More than Friends
by Safron Angel
Summary: Tenten's out to find true love. Tired of hearing her best friend, Hyuga Neji, talk about how easy it is to get a girl. Tenten says she can find someone special before he ever could. Pairings: Nejiten, SasuSaku [Completed]
1. Prologue

**More than Friends**

_Summary: Tenten's out to find true love. Tired of hearing her best friend, Hyuga Neji, talk about how easy it is to get a girl. Tenten says she can find someone special before he ever_ _could. Neji doesn't know the first thing about love-all he knows about are hormones. It's about two best friends, Tenten and Hyuga Neji, who throughout their friendship have been mistaken for being in a not-so-platonic relationship. Then in the end they realize that there is something special about their friendship. Pairings: mostly Nejiten and at the end Sasu/Saku and maybe Shika/Ino._

**Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto.**

**Rated: PG**

**Prologue**

"Have you ever fallen in love Neji?" Tenten asked lazily while lying under a large tree and staring at the clouds go by.

"Of course I have. Could you even count How many girls have I've dated?"

"No, I mean Fall in love as in…Really in love, not just going out with one of your crazy fan girls." Questioned Tenten.

"Oh..you're right, maybe I haven't. But don't you worry, with my charm, I will soon!" smirked Neji.

"Oh really? Let's make a bet. If you could find someone special and fall in love with her before the senior prom, you win. And same goes for me, if I fall in love, I win."

"Fine deal! I don't need 2 months to fall in love, just give me 2 weeks; I'll find a girl who'll sweep me off my feet. Prepare to lose Tenten! U can't win against me, the most eligible bachelor in Konoha High School. Give up already!"

"Let's wait and see. Don't get too cocky Neji, you don't know the first thing about love at all. If you lose, you have to dye your hair yellow and walk around the school with a "I am a loser" sign on your back for a week."

"WHAT! NO, NEVER!" After thinking for a while, he said: "Ok FINE... I wouldn't lose anyway. So what if I win?"

"I'll do anything you ask me to."

"OK, I can't think of anything really bad right now. I'll get to you when I think of something. No backing out Tenten!"

"You got it."

Thanks for reading! Please leave me a review.Chapter 1will be up soon.In the meantime, you can check out my other story "Then there was you".


	2. Chapter 1

**More than Friends**

_Summary: Tenten's out to find true love. Tired of hearing her best friend, Hyuga Neji, talk about how easy it is to get a girl. Tenten says she can find someone special before he ever_ _could. Neji doesn't know the first thing about love-all he knows about are hormones. It's about two best friends, Tenten and Hyuga Neji, who throughout their friendship have been mistaken for being in a not-so-platonic relationship. Then in the end they realize that there is something special about their friendship. Pairings: mostly Nejiten and at the end Sasu/Saku and maybe Shika/Ino._

**Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto.**

**Rated: PG**

**Chapter 1**

"What? Are you kidding me? You're gonna lose for sure dumbass… You, Neji, the biggest jerk in Konoha high fall in love? That's bullshit man.. Give up already!"

"Oh man... not you too Sasuke… What makes you think I can't find someone special and fall in love? You're my good friend, you're supposed to be on my side and help me win this" exclaimed Neji while they were walking along thehalls to their next class. All the girls were looking seductively at both of them much to the displeasure of the other guys.

"Looking good Neji! How about a date this weekend?" purred a hot blond junior whom Neji dated before. She batted her eyelashes at him, hoping that he'll fall for her charm again.

"Thanks for asking Rachel, but I'd rather not. I have better use of my time than going out with a dumb blond." With that, he walked off leaving behind the disappointed and sulking blond.

"That proves it. First, you're a jerk. And second, you've dated like every girl in this school except Tenten, and that wide forehead nerd Sakura. Third, you're a jerk, good girls dont date jerks." smirked Sasuke.

"Speak for yourself, you're a jerk too. Yeah yeah, wait and see, I'll find someone, probably one of those new exchange students or something. I heard that they are hot! Plus they dont know anything about me. Come on, we're late for class." replied Neji.

"Whatever, just leave some hot chicks for me. Who cares about class anyway, Kakashi is always late. He's probably somewhere reading his perv book again" replied Sasuke.

"Let's just go..."

Uchiha Sasuke and Hyuga Neji are seniors in Konoha high and they are the most popular guys in the school. They earned the reputation as jerks who change their girlfriends every week. But you must admit that both of them are very handsome that no girls could resist their charms. Neji was tall, toned and has dark brown hair and the most charming smile ever. Sasuke was also tall with a well worked out body to die for and gorgeous onyx eyes. They were what every guy want to be and every girl's dream boyfriends.

On the girl's side…

Tenten isn't a very popular girl. She isn't ugly but isn't very pretty either. Her beautiful hazel eyes are always hidden behind that large black spectacles of hers and she doesn't care much about her appearance. Her face is make-up free and she is sort of tom boyish. Her good friend Sakura always tells her that more guys would take notice of her if only she would take better care of her appearance. Sakura herself is another gorgeous girl if she doesn't hide her pretty face with her long fringe and bookworm spectacles. Plus she's really clever too, a future doctor wannabe.

"Oh my god! You actually made a bet like this?" shrieked Sakura.

"Yeah, what's wrong? I'm winning it." replied Tenten casually.

"But… Neji has like more experience than you do! And oohh, he is hot!" giggled Sakura. She had this long time crush on Neji since freshman year.

"Stop that dreamy look on your face! Come on, I know you're taken in by his looks but he's just not boyfriend material. He doesn't know anything about love."

"Yeah…but he's so cute!"said Sakura dreamily with hearts in her eyes.

True, Tenten can't compare the number of dates she had before with Neji. She only went out with 2 guys before and they were both good for nothings. She isn't very experience in this sort of relationship thingy and she is the type who doesn't go for school dances or participate in school events while Neji is the total opposite. She wondered why they were even good friends since they are so different from each other. While she was deep in her thoughts, Sakura suddenly poked her and squealed. Tenten looked up and saw her best friend and Sasuke approaching them.

"Look who's here, the wide forehead nerd!" smirked Sasuke.

"Oh did I hear an ice block speak?" retorted Sakura glaring at her enemy.

"Why you stupid…"

"Oh stop it you two!" exclaimed Neji and Tenten at the same time before Sasuke could finish his sentence.

"Can't you two ever stop quarrelling the moment you meet each other?" laughed Tenten.

"NO, she/he started it!" said Sasuke and Sakura together.

"Woah, you two are singing the same tune." Said Neji

"Shut up! Its none of your business." Said Sasuke and Sakura red in the face.

"Oh my, I would think you two like each other or something. You're always saying the same thing! Maybe you guys should just date and make out and…." grinned Tenten. Before she could finish her sentence…Both of them turned pink and started shouting at the same time. All heads were now turned towards the four of them.

"WHAT? I'll Never ever date a nerd like her/I'll never ever date an ice block like him!" screamed the victims.

Both of them then stormed off in opposite directions dragging their friends with them. Neji and Tenten tried to disperse the crowd surrounding them.

"Well, I'll talk to you tonight Tenten!" shouted Neji over the corridor full of students.

"Yeah sure!" answered Tenten as she was being pulled away by the very peeved Sakura.

On the girl's side…

"Why do you always pick a fight with Sasuke?" asked Tenten

"DON'T…don't talk to me right now. I'm so pissed off. And what's that stupid idea of yours of us dating! And I cant believe you actually have a crush on his brother! They're all of the same type! Annoying gits!" shrieked Sakura into Tenten's ears.

"Ow..I think you blew my ear drums off… Haha, hey who knows gal, anything could happen! The more you hate the person, the more likely you two will cross paths. And hey don't pull me into this ok." said Tenten. "Itachi is a much nicer guy than his brother. At least he's not a flirt..or at least I think he's not..." added Tenten.

Sakura glared at her friend and walked angrily to their next class.

On the guy's side…

"What's up with you and Sakura?" questioned Neji.

"Nothing! There is nothing between us. I hate her, she hates me. We'll never date each other!"

"Cool it, I was just asking. You don't have to get so agitated or else I might think there is really something between both of you." sniggered Neji.

Sasuke scowled at his friend and started beating the crap out of him…

Later that night…

"Hey Tenten. Channel 64, your favourite show. Hurry."

"Ok, hang on a second." replied Tenten as she ran down to her den and switched on the television. "You know Neji, I really love this movie a lot. Its so romantic!"

Neji and Tenten did this very often, talking to each other on the phone while watching the television. Every now and then, they would give some comments to each other about the film. After 2 hours, the movie ended and Neji could hear Tenten sniffling on the other side of the phone.

"Oh come on, how many times have you watched this already and you still cry? Get over it!"

"Hey you can't blame me. I'm that emotional whenever I watch sad movies. I just can't stop crying every time Danny dies in the movie." sobbed Tenten.

"Alright alright, I get it…So, have you found your special someone yet?"

"No, have you?"

"Unfortunately, no… Its only the first day. But I'm sure I will tomorrow. I heard there's going to be a new exchange student in my English class. I hope she's hot." smirked Neji.

"Yeah yeah… don't count on it." yawned Tenten. "Hey I'm kinda sleepy now, I'll see you in school tomorrow ok?"

"Ok, good night Tenten, sweet dreams."

"Night Hyuga"

That night, Tenten had a really sweet dream. She dreamt that her crush, Sasuke's brother Itachi, asked her to the prom. They were having such a good time dancing and chatting. Itachi then brought her to a secret garden and it was really beautiful there, all the pretty flowers and mini waterfalls. It was such a romantic place.

"Tenten, you're the most beautiful girl I've ever seen…and I love you!" whispered Itachi into her ears.

Tenten blushed and they were about to kiss when "RING!", her alarm clock rang…

Tenten tumbled off her bed in shock and muttered curses under her breath. She dragged herself off the floor to get ready for a new day…..

Well, that's it for now! Please read and review! I hope it isn't too boring with all the dialogues. The 2nd chapter will be the part when both of them start going out with their "special one".


	3. Chapter 2

**More than Friends**

_Summary: Tenten's out to find true love. Tired of hearing her best friend, Hyuga Neji, talk about how easy it is to get a girl. Tenten says she can find someone special before he ever could. Neji doesn't know the first thing about love--all he knows about are hormones. But after weeks of dating misery, both are ready to accept defeat...until Neji suggests they date each other. Do friends really make better partners? Pairings: mostly Nejiten and at the end Sasu/Saku and maybe Shika/Ino._

_Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto._

_Rated: PG_

**

* * *

Chapter 2 **

The sun rays almost blinded Tenten as she got up to get ready for school. She yawned sleepily and stepped over to her dresser and started going through her drawers. After flipping through the heap of clothes, she finally found what she was looking for - a faded pair of baggy pants that only went down to her ankles along with a plain green t-shirt. Reaching in her back pocket, she found her large glass which totally matches her "not-so-nice" outfit.

"_Hang on; if I want to win the bet, I should start taking better care of my appearance." _Tenten thought to herself. She started to find another outfit but all of them were as plain as what she was wearing. Finally, she gave up. "Oh man..I have to go shopping! But hang on again…why should I bother how I look like. Oh, screw that! My true love wouldn't mind how I look like. He should like me for me" said Tenten to herself. She sighed and dragged herself out of her room and out of the house into the glaring sun.

"Tenten, wait up!"

"Oh hey Sakura!" replied Tenten as Sakura caught up with her and both of them stopped at their lockers to get their books.

"So what's up? What's with that look of yours?" questioned Sakura. Tenten gave Sakura a head to toe glance and She looked like she just stayed up forthree nights in a row. Her hair was in a mess and she looked pale with eye bags below her normally pretty eyes.

"Nothing…Oh hey, actually there's something I wanna tell you. Guess what? I dreamt of Itachi last night! It was such a sweet dream. But I got woken up by my stupid alarm clock! What's wrong with you anyway? You looked like you didn't sleep for days!" replied Tenten.

"Yeah…this is worse than that. You know what? I had a dream too. It was A NIGHTMARE! I dreamt of that jerk and he was…he was… he was ki…ARGH...I can't say it Tenten! I feel like vomiting right now…"

"He was kissing you in your dream? Oh my god! That's so funny!" Tenten roared in laughter.

"SHUT UP! It's not funny! It's so freaky! I mean how could I dream of such a thing?" yelled Sakura.

Tenten looked at her friend and decided not to pursue any further. She knew how scary Sakura would get when she gets really mad. So, she changed the topic.

"Ok, ok, don't think about it anymore. Remember to get a good's night sleep tonight! Anyway, back to Itachi and I. He was so charming and so handsome in my dreams and he…"

Before Tenten could finish her sentence, Sakura started poking her and pointing at another direction.

"Tenten! Itachi's looking at you! Did you see? There he is! He's staring at you! Oh my! I think he's approaching us!" squealed Sakura excitedly.

Tenten looked up from her locker and turned to the direction Sakura was looking at. And indeed! Itachi was looking at her intently and strolling towards her direction casually. Tenten could feel butterflies in her stomach and she was getting jittery. As Itachi walked closer and closer to her, she felt dizzy and her ears were filled with a buzzing sound.

"_Ok, Tenten, chill, it's just a guy. Now just act normally"_ Tenten thought.

"Hey, erm..Tenten right? I'm Itachi. Would you like to go for a cup of coffee tomorrow afternoon after class?"

Sakura's jaw dropped and Tenten was totally in shock and speechless. She unconsciously edged away from him. A million thoughts just ran through her head. 'Did Itachi just ask me for a date? Oh no! What do I say! What do I do!' she thought helplessly. 'HELP!' she screamed in her mind. Itachi raised an eyebrow, rather amused at Tenten's sudden reaction towards him.

"Hey, I don't bite you know?" he said gently.

To her horror, Tenten blushed madly and stuttered: "I...I k.know... I..I'm sssory." And she moved further away from him. She couldn't stand up properly and she felt like she was swaying.

"Then why are you acting like I'm some sort of fatal disease?" joked Itachi. He gave her one of his charming smiles.

"Oh no! I'm sorry, I didn't, I mean I…"

"That's ok Tenten. So are you free tomorrow?" asked Itachi.

"I…I'd be glad to…to have a cup of coffee with you." replied Tenten. She was now as red as a tomato.

"That's great! I'll see you then. Tomorrow 2pm at Breeks Café. Bye!" Itachi gave her one last smile and waved goodbye.

Tenten smiled and said goodbye under her breath. Suddenly she heard a shriek and felt someone pounce on her and they both crashed onto the floor.

"OH MY GOD TENTEN! HE asked you out! Your CRUSH ITACHI ASKED YOU OUT! HE mmpphhm" shouted Sakura.

"Are you crazy Sakura! What was that for! And SHUSH! Not so loud!" Tenten answered while covering her friend's mouth to prevent her from letting the whole school knows that the popular Itachi has asked the geek Tenten out for a coffee.

"So, he finally asked you huh?" said an all too familiar voice.

Tenten stopped trying to hold down the struggling and overly excited Sakura and looked up. Neji held out his hand and pulled her off the floor.

"Thanks. So you heard?" replied Tenten

"Who couldn't hear it when some crazy, loud mouthed, wide forehead nerd was shouting at the top of her stupid voice?" smirked Sasuke.

"You stupid, cold, unfeeling asshole, keep your mouth shut!" said Sakura and she gave him her meanest glare while she picked herself off the floor. Before Tenten and Neji could stop them, they started bickering down the corridor and away from their sight.

"Well, yeah, he did ask me to go for a cup of coffee. But it's only coffee. Maybe he just wants to be my friend." said Tenten.

Neji laughed and swatted her playfully. "That's not what you really think! You know he's interested in you!" he joked.

"Hey! Don't laugh at me! He wouldn't like me…Who would? I'm just an ugly geek." Tenten said as she walked with Neji to his next class.

Neji suddenly stopped, making Tenten bump into him. He turned around and faced her. "Tenten, you're not ugly at all, you're beautiful. So don't go on saying that you're ugly anymore ok?" he said to her in a serious way. Tenten was slightly taken aback at his seriousness but she smiled at him and nodded her head.

"Hey, you know what. Maybe you're right. He may be my special guy you know? Be prepared to lose Hyuga!"

"Don't say that too early. My next class is English and there's going to be a hot new exchange student joining us." replied Neji.

"Whatever…You just cant accept defeat, can you? I'll prepare the yellow hair dye first" grinned Tenten as Neji walked into his classroom. He smacked her on her head gently and said goodbye to her. Tenten walked down the halls alone and was deep in thought, thinking about what Itachi said to her when she felt a large amount of heat being emitted by someone beside her.

"Oh hey, there you are. What happened?" Tenten asked Sakura. Her face was red and her hair was even messier than before and she was huffing and puffing in anger.

"DO YOU HAVE TO ASK? What else could happen? That stupid jerkface, dumbass, idiot. I'm going to strangle him, stab him a million times, and kick him in his ass and…."

Tenten sighed as her friend continued her string of curses and name calling. What a day!

Meanwhile in Neji's class…

Neji just took his seat when Sasuke walked into the class scowling. Neji sighed and didn't bother asking him what happened. He didn't want to listen to him curse Sakura. All he does everyday is curse her and call her names. Neji was sick of it. Soon, their homeroom teacher arrived with a blonde girl with blue eyes and long, wavy hair.

"Everyone, listen up! This is Yamanaka Ino, a new exchange student. Be nice and Ino, you can introduce yourself to the class."

"Hi everyone! I'm Ino and I'll be here in Konoha High school for a term." She paused and took a glance at the whole class. Her eyes fell on Neji and she smiled at him seductively. Sasuke saw that and smirked and nudged Neji. Neji gave her a charming smile in return.

"So, I hope I'll enjoy my stay here and learn from everyone. Thank you!" finished Ino.

Everyone clapped and Ino took her seat across Neji. She stole a quick glance at him and found him looking at her too. She smiled sweetly and gave him a wink.

"Oohh, she's a blonde bombshell! Absolutely hot man! And she's interested in you! That's not fair!" whispered Sasuke to his partner.

"Hehe..Hey, I would have let you have her but I have my reputation at stake now. I need her to fall in love with me and me to fall in love with her. So, sorry!" whispered Neji.

Finally, after so much torture (the lesson was so damn boring), the bell finally rang. Neji saw Ino picking up her books and was about to leave the classroom. He dashed up to her and said: ' Hi Ino, I'm Hyuga Neji. Pleased to meet you."

"Hi Neji, I've heard of you. You're one of the most popular guys in Konoha high school, aren't you? Nice to meet you too. Great school this is! I love it already!" replied Ino.

"Wow, you've heard of me already. Great news travel fast around here. Here, let me help you with your books. Where do you live? I'll drive you home."

"Really? Thanks!" said Ino happily.

Both of them started chatting and walked out of the classroom forgetting all about Sasuke.

"Geez, some friend he is. Dumping me for a hot chick…He'll get it from me tomorrow…" muttered Sasuke in annoyance as he went home alone.

* * *

Everyone, Thanks for reading! Remember to leave me a review! And Yes, Ino is going to be Neji's girl for a while and Itachi is going to be with Tenten. Sorry if I made Ino sound like a bitch, but she would not be so bad at the end of my story. I hope this isn't too draggy. Anyway, next chapter would be Tenten's "date" with Itachi and more on Neji and Ino. I know there isn't much Neji/Tenten action going on but there will definitely be more later on. So, I'll leave you guys here for now! 


	4. Chapter 3

**Authors Notes: Hi everyone! I know the Itachi/Tenten and Neji/Ino pairings are horrible. Personally, I don't really like it too. But I couldn't think of any handsome guy for Tenten's crush or any pretty gal for Neji. I would use Sasuke and Sakura but they are 2 of the main characters in the story and they are made for each other. Plus I don't wanna use OCs so I have no choice! SORRY! But eventually, its gonna be Neji/Tenten cuz they rock! And Sasu/Saku as well. Thanks to those who reviewed and enjoy this chapter.**

* * *

**More than Friends**

_Summary: Tenten's out to find true love. Tired of hearing her best friend, Hyuga Neji, talk about how easy it is to get a girl. Tenten says she can find someone special before he ever could. Neji doesn't know the first thing about love--all he knows about are hormones. But after weeks of dating misery, both are ready to accept defeat...until Neji suggests they date each other. Do friends really make better partners? Pairings: mostly Nejiten and at the end Sasu/Saku and maybe Shika/Ino._

_Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto._

_Rated: PG_

**

* * *

Chapter 3**

The next morning seemed so near but felt so far away. Tenten could hardly wait! She talked to Neji a few minutes ago on the phone and learned that he had hooked up with some blonde exchange student named Ino. _"I wonder how she looks like…She must be a really pretty girl to catch the eye of Hyuga Neji. Is she prettier than me? Wait..why am I thinking about this. It's none of my business…" _thought Tenten and she brushed aside that thought.

"I should be thinking what to wear to school tomorrow, or what should I say to Itachi…" Tenten said to no one in particular. She continued with her thoughts until slumber took over her.

The next morning, Tenten tried to find something decent to wear. She finally settled on jeans and a white top. She was contemplating if she should wear her large spectacles or leave them at home. Finally, she decided to put them on. She pulled her glamorous brown locks into a tight bun and looked at her watch.

"Drats! I'm running late!" she exclaimed when she saw the time. She dashed out of her house and ran to school as fast as she could. On her way to her class, she accidentally knocked into someone and was about to fall backwards when strong arms grabbed her and pulled her into his chest. _"Wow, I feel so safe and secure in these arms…"_ Tenten thought as she snuggled deeper into them. She finally decided to look up and came face to face with a smirking Neji.

"Feeling very comfortable huh? Now get off me!" he teased.

"Ne..Neji! Sorry about that!" Tenten said, turning a little pink.

"Am I seeing what I'm seeing? Are you blushing?"

"NO, I'm not! Why the hell would I blush."

"You…" Before Neji could continue his sentence, his view of Tenten was covered by a head of blonde hair and his lips were captured by another pair of lips.

"I..Ino…" Neji muttered in between kisses.

Tenten frowned at the scene before and started to back off. "Erm..Neji, I see you're a little busy, catch you later." And she walked off before Neji could say anything.

Tenten glanced back at Neji but he was too busy kissing Ino to notice. Tenten felt something tugging at her heart_. "What's that funny feeling? I feel so unconfortable…I didn't feel this way before when I see his other girlfriends clobber all over him. What's wrong with me? Maybe it's just the nerves. I'm meeting Itachi later and I'm a little nervous. Yeah probably just the nerves."_ Tenten thought to herself as she hurried to her class.

Sakura joined her on her way and they both ran anxiously as they were already late. It's not good to be late when that old spinster Mrs Crumblebottom was their teacher. However, luck wasn't with them. A gaggle of school girls had their backs towards them and were blocking the whole corridor. They were gawking at something in front of them.

"Oh come on!" Tenten yelled. Both girls started squeezing and pushing their way through the crowd of girls and groaned upon seeing what the commotion was all about.

"EWW! Would you look at that! Those two are disgusting!" cried Sakura in anger. Tenten sighed and had to drag Sakura away from screaming at Sasuke who was being smothered by a very pretty brunette. His crowd of fan girls was shooting death glares at the brunette. Sasuke took notice of neither the crowd nor Sakura's booming voice and continued in the lip lock.

The girls ended up being late for class and had to attend detention the next day. Finally, the last bell rang and the students were free to go home. Tenten was feeling really nervous as she walked alone to Breeks Café to meet Itachi. She was thinking what to say to him when suddenly; she felt a pair of arms on her shoulder. She looked up and almost fell backwards when she saw who it was. _"OH NO!"_ she screamed in her mind.

"Hey Tenten, how are you today?"

"H..Hi Itachi, I'm g..great!"

Itachi stopped and smiled charmingly at her. To Tenten's surprise, he cupped her face with one of his hands and looked into Tenten's eyes.

"You know, you have beautiful eyes. You shouldn't hide them behind those spectacles. Let your hair down from those tight buns once in a while too, they need to breath you know." Itachi chucked.

"_Wow..even his chuckle is so sexy…"_ thought Tenten. The time seemed to stop as both of them just stared into each other's eyes. Tenten finally, reluctantly, tore her eyes away from his gaze and said:" Thanks, erm I will…"

"Let's go Tenten." Said Itachi as he held her hands and led her to the café. Tenten couldn't believe it. Itachi was actually holding her hands? She blushed and found that the patterns on the floor were really intriguing at that moment. She could feel people staring at both of them while they were walking and she felt quite uncomfortable. Finally, after a long torturous silence (to Tenten, it was torturous), they reached the café and Itachi let go of her hands. Tenten looked up, and turned red the moment she looked at Itachi's smiling face. They took a corner seat and ordered their coffees.

"Tenten…" Itachi started as they settled down.

"I sorry if I seem too forward or sudden, but I really like you a lot and I want to get to know you better. I've been observing you for quite a while now, although I don't think you even know. Would you like to go on a real date sometime this weekends?" said Itachi gently.

"_What! I've been observing you too! I had a crush on you the moment I set my eyes on you! I like you too! Of course I wanna go on a date with you!"_ squealed Tenten happily in her head. She started thinking about her dream she had previously and a large smile was planted on her face. Itachi looked amused and broke her thoughts by saying: "I take that gigantic smile of yours as a Yes?"

Tenten immediately woke up to reality and went red again. "I'd love to." she whispered. Itachi laughed at her embarrassment and stared teasing her.

"You don't have to be embarrassed next time when you're with me. I'm your boyfriend now you know?" With that, he slipped his hand underneath her jacket on her lap and held her hands. Tenten felt a soft, warm hand covered her own cold and trembling ones and started to relax.

"Did he just said he's my boyfriend?" thought Tenten. She just smiled at him sheepishly. Inside her heart, she was screaming with joy. She felt someone's eyes looking intently at her and she turned to that direction and saw Neji sitting at the other corner looking at her with an unreadable expression. She gave him a smile and thumbs up while Itachi wasn't looking and her jacket slipped onto the floor exposing their held hands.

Neji's point of view…

Neji was sitting down comfortably sipping his coffee and talking to Sasuke when he saw Tenten and Itachi walked in. He started frowning when he saw that they were already holding hands. He didn't like what he saw at all. And he didn't like Itachi. He didn't like them to be so close to each other. _"The only guy she can be close to is ME!"_ he thought to himself. He kept observing them and saw that they were chatting happily and Tenten looked much more at ease than before and wasn't even blushing anymore.

"So, they're really dating now?" questioned Sasuke as he too, looked on.

Neji remained silent and kept his eyes fixed on the giggling couple for the whole 15 minutes or so. Sasuke saw this and smirked.

"Why are you looking at them? Jealous that my brother is dating a girl, one of the only 2 girls you haven't dated before? Or are you jealous because you like Tenten more than a friend?" he added the last part cheekily.

"NO I AM NOT jealous. I just want to win the bet." Neji lied as he gritted his teeth. He was angry and maybe jealous but he didn't know why. He thought that maybe he's big ego is taking over him and he just didn't want to lose the bet. Hyuga Neji never loses.

A while later, Sakura walked into the café and joined Tenten while Itachi took his leave. He kissed Tenten goodbye much to the displeasure of Neji.

"Why are you scowling? Aren't you happy that nerd came and end their little date?" Sasuke said. He looked at the girls and saw Sakura without her spectacles first time in his entire life. She was wailing and complaining so loudly that anyone who wasn't deaf could hear her. Apparently, some dude knocked her off her feet and her spectacles fell off and got trampled on by someone else. She looked really mad and Sasuke thought she looked so cute. He didn't notice that she was that beautiful before.

Her hair was like petals of cherry blossom, sparkling in the ray of sunlight. It was such a cliché and overused saying, exactly like something one might hear in one of those cheesy, unrealistic chick flicks that he detested so much. The kind of movie that she probably loved, and would sit and squeal over for hours on end with her only friend Tenten. Sasuke blinked, coming out of his daze, and glanced at his empty coffee cup. He glanced back to the table where the object of his current fixation was supposed to be sitting, whining about her broken spectacles. To his surprise, a pair of suspicious green eyes was staring back at him, exactly the color of emerald held up to the light…

They stared at each other for a long, appraising moment, before Sasuke allowed a faint smile to quirk his lips, raising his empty cup to her in a mock salute. That action appeared to break the spell. Sakura abruptly stood and marched determinedly forward, a fierce scowl on her pretty face that she probably thought made her look threatening, but in actuality made her look adorable. Sakura reached him and stood with her hands planted on her hips.

"And just what is it about me that's so fascinating that you have to keep boring holes into the back of my skull!" she demanded in a high, frustrated voice.

Sasuke looked at her for another moment, and then smirked again. "Oh, nothing much," he replied lightly. "I was just admiring the way you look without your hideous spectacles." To his surprise, she suddenly flushed and blinked and looked away in a fit of embarrassment.

"_Oh shit, did I just say that I admired her!"_ Sasuke thought in horror.

"Oh, you don't really think that was the truth did you? How could any ugly duckling turn into a beautiful swan, especially ugly duckings with wide fore heads?" Sasuke lied.

And with those words, he set the empty cup down on the counter with a dull tunk, picked up his books, and proceeded to stroll casually out of the café, leaving an openmouthed and extremely speechless Sakura gaping after him.

"_Oooh, this is going to be interesting, I got a feeling he has a thing for Sakura."_ thought Neji in amusement. Tenten strolled over and joined Sakura and Neji.

"Sakura, you ok?" asked Tenten.

Sakura just stared at the empty spot Sasuke was sitting before he left and blinked. Then she blinked again and without answering her friend, she stormed out of the café in anger.

Tenten sighed. "Not again…can't they try to get along?" she asked Neji

"Forget about them. Let's talk about you for a second." replied Neji seriously.

"Me? What about me?" asked Tenten curiously.

"Don't go out with Itachi. He's not the right guy for you. He's just a jerk." Neji blurted bluntly.

"WHAT?"

"You heard me. Itachi is a jerk. He's a player. Stop seeing him."

"How could you say that? He's your good friend's brother! Itachi's not a jerk. He's a nice guy." Said Tenten, her anger rising.

"Even Sasuke says that his brother is a player. Don't see that suckface anymore Tenten, I don't want you to get hurt." Said Neji patiently.

"DON'T Call Him That! What is wrong with you? You are my best friend! You should be happy that I finally found someone whom I really like and who feels the same way for me." hissed Tenten.

"Listen to me Tenten, I know it better than you do. You're not experienced enough. I've seen more than you and I know Tenten. He is just not good enough for you. If you're seeing him just for the bet, then I…"

"The bet! Is that it? You wanna win the bet, so you're trying to stop me from going out with the person I like the most? Look, I didn't even stop you from going out with that Ina, or Ino or whatever her name is. So why are you stopping me! You're such a disappointment Hyuga! Is that what our friendship is worth? Just a bet?" screeched Tenten who is on the verge of tears.

"NO, of course not! I just…"

"Stop it Hyuga, You're just a mean, bloody, jerk with an ego the size of Russia and you just can't bear to lose. Enough of your Huyga Neji doesn't lose crap! I HATE YOU!" With that, Tenten turned around and started heading for the exit, tears streaming down her lovely face. Before she could take her first step, Neji caught her arm and pulled her back.

"You don't mean that…"

"YES I DO, Hands off!" seethed Tenten, refusing to face him.

"No, you don't hate me." Neji said quietly and lifted her chin up to face him.

"I just don't want to see you get hurt Tenten. You know I really care a lot for you. You're my very best friend, one who knows me the best. I'm sorry if the things I just said upset you. I don't want to see you cry. I won't let him off if he hurts you." He added, while using his fingers to wipe the tears on her face. He stared into her hazel eyes with a caring and soft expression which made Tenten soften.

She breathed heavily and replied: "I'm sorry for saying I hate you too. I don't hate you at all. I could never hate you Neji. I know you're always protecting me from harm and I really appreciate that. But I promise I won't get hurt this time. Itachi is a nice guy and I really like him a lot."

Neji signed and reluctantly said OK. Inside, he was getting that uncomfortable feeling tugging at his heart again but he dismissed it thinking that he was probably just worried about his best friend.

"So, are we still best friends?" Tenten piped in.

Neji playfully wacked her arm. "You bet!" and he pulled her towards him and gave her a hug. Tenten returned his hug and smiled to herself in his chest. _"That feels so right…"_ she thought…

* * *

Ok, that's it for now. Thanks for reading and don't forget to review! I'd love to hear from all of my wonderful readers! Next chapter would probably be on Itachi/Tenten and some Ino/Neji. I don't like the Ino/Neji pairing at all..so I guess I wont go into too much detail about that. And Of cuz there will be Neji/Ten. THEY RULE! Hope you guys like the Sasu/Saku parts too. 


	5. Chapter 4

**More than Friends**

_Summary: Tenten's out to find true love. Tired of hearing her best friend, Hyuga Neji, talk about how easy it is to get a girl. Tenten says she can find someone special before he ever could. Neji doesn't know the first thing about love--all he knows about are hormones. But after weeks of dating misery, both are ready to accept defeat...until Neji suggests they date each other. Do friends really make better partners? Pairings: mostly Nejiten and at the end Sasu/Saku and maybe Shika/Ino._

_Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto._

_Rated: PG_

**

* * *

Chapter 4 **

"That was a great movie!" Tenten remarked as Itachi and she walked out of the cinema. It was the weekends at last and both of them finally went on their real first date. Of course Tenten was overjoyed, so happy that she couldn't sleep the night before. She was talking to Sakura on the phone and discussing what to wear for her date and gossiping till the wee hours of the morning. She finally settled on a knee length skirt, a sleeveless top with a cardigan over it. She still has her lovely locks up in a bun though. Tenten doesn't feel a bit tired at all. In fact, she felt rejuvenated the moment she saw Itachi. He was dressed simply, clad in jeans and a shirt but he looked gorgeous and his hair made him even sexier. This was like her dream come true!

"No it wasn't. I thought it was really Boring…" said Itachi with a smirk.

Tenten's good mood went tumbling down a hill and she looked up at Itachi in disappointment.

"But watching it with you made it much more enjoyable for me." Itachi teased. Tenten heaved a sigh of relief and tried to strangle him in mock anger.

"You tricked me! You're horrible!" Tenten pouted.

Itachi laughed and pretended to choke and Tenten immediately let go of his neck and started to apologize. Taking this chance, Itachi wrapped his muscular arms around Tenten and kissed her forehead. Tenten looked up at Itachi with surprise and was about to speak when she felt a warm pair of lips cover her own.

Her eyes grew as wide as saucers and she was screaming in her head again.

_"Is he kissing me? My first kiss with Itachi! It so sweet! It's so nice and warm! I don't want it to end!_"

After what seemed like only one second to Tenten, Itachi broke the kiss. He looked at Tenten so intently with an expressionless look that she felt extremely uncomfortable under his stare. She wondered what he was thinking of. Fortunately for her, a bunch a giggling girls broke that awkward situation. Tenten turned her head and saw a bunch of high school girls ogling at Itachi and one of them even glared at her and made some comments.

"Look at her…she doesn't deserve him! What a nerd! …."

Tenten glared back, held Itachi's hand and dragged him away from his "fan club". When they were far away enough from the fan girls, she let go of his hands but Itachi held her firmly. He chuckled and said, "Don't let those girls bother you. I think you look great today."

Tenten coloured and smiled lightly to herself.

"Hey listen, are you free tonight?" Itachi asked as they got into his car.

"Yeah, what's up?"

"My band is playing at Melton Bar tonight. And I would really like you to come."

"You got your own band? Wow! You've never told me about that. And sure, yeah, of course I'll come." Tenten replied as they neared her house.

"Great! I'll see you tonight then!" said Itachi as he kissed her goodbye.

"_Gosh! He invited me to his very own live gig! I'm fainting! I'm fainting! Being is love is such a wonderful feeling!"_ Tenten thought as she danced and hummed all the way to her bedroom.

On the phone after her date...

"Sakura, GUESS WHAT? Itachi asked me out again! He wants me to go to Melton Bar to listen to his band play! Who knows he might sing me a song too!" exclaimed Tenten excitedly.

"Really! You guys are going on a second date! He must really like you a lot!" shrieked Sakura back.

"Ow…Ok, stop the shouting, my ears hurt! I can't believe we're progressing so fast! Only the first date and he kissed me already!"

"WHAT! He kissed you! Really! OH MY GOD!" cried Sakura.

"I know! I can't believe it too! I think I'm falling in love! I can't wait to see him tonight!" said Tenten dreamily.

"Oh, I feel so happy for you! Tell me the details when you get back ok? Enjoy yourself!"

"Thanks Sakura! Oh hey I got another line; I'll talk to you later!"

On the other line…

"Hey Tenten, you doing anything tonight? Wanna hang out with your lonely best friend?"

"NEJI! I got a date with Itachi tonight!"

"Oh…really? Well, that's ok then" replied Neji with a tinge of disappointment in his voice.

However Tenten didn't notice it and continued babbling about her date tonight and Itachi much to the annoyance of Neji.

"Ok, ok, I get it. You don't have to repeat." said Neji in frustration.

"Are you ok Neji? You sound….angry with me?

"Yeah, yeah..I'm ok. No, I'm not angry. " replied Neji, followed by a long awkward silence.

"Are you sure? You don't sound like yourself today. Don't you have to go out with your girlfriend?"

"Well, yeah, I just remembered, I have a date with her tonight. You enjoy yourself tonight and I'll see you in school. "he lied.

Tenten thought Neji sounded really weird and made a mental note to question him when she sees him in school on Monday.

Later that night…

Tenten was at Melton bar looking for Itachi and she found him sitting at a corner with his band members. She walked up to him and greeted him.

"Tenten! Glad you could come. We're going to start soon. Why don't you take a seat first over there? And I'll see you later." Itachi pointed to a seat on her right.

Tenten nodded and went to get seated. Soon the band started playing and the audience started dancing and cheering. A bunch of girls were screaming Itachi's name and their eyes were glued to the handsome lead singer.

_"Wow, he's really good."_ Tenten thought.

"Hello to our friends and everyone here, thanks for coming today. The next song is dedicated to a special friend of mine. Although I just met her, she supported me ardently through my ups and downs and I'm singing this song for her to thank her." said Itachi. He looked at Tenten and smiled at her.

_"Mmm, did I support him that much?"_ Tenten thought as she smiled back.

"This song, _Precious_, is dedicated to the lovely Mia" Itachi said as he pointed to a tall brunette girl sitting right at the front of the stage. Everyone whistled and applauded. Tenten could see the girl blushing under the disco lights.

_"What? It's for another girl? It wasn't for me!"_ Tenten thought in disappointment.

She looked up and tried to catch Itachi's eyes but he was singing and looking at the other girl. Just a few seconds after the song started, everyone started to get up their seats and dance. All the girls were screaming madly and there seemed to be even more "fan girls" on the dance floor. Tenten's view of the stage was obscured by the crowd of dancing fanatics. Feeling out of place, uncomfortable and suffocated by the crowd and lack of air, she slipped out of the bar. She felt so much better after breathing in fresh air. Boy, this wasn't as fun as she thought it would be. She decided to wait for Itachi somewhere quieter. After leaving him a message on his phone, she left for the local's favorite diner.

The diner was bustling with young teenagers with their friends and lovers when she entered the place. Tenten took a seat at one corner and ordered a fruit juice. She looked around and saw people enjoying themselves, couples acting all lovey dovey and she felt lonely. She heaved a big sigh.

"I wish Neji was here with me." She said to no one in particular. _"We always had so much fun chatting and joking around in here."_ She thought. As though heaven could read her thoughts, she saw Neji entering the diner. However, he wasn't alone. Clinging on his arm was Yamanaka Ino. She was all over him. Tenten felt sick when she saw that. She saw Neji trying to get her to sit down but Ino was pouting and looking at him with puppy dog eyes. Apparently, she doesn't want to be in this place. Finally, both of them walked out to the relief of Tenten, she didn't want Neji to see her alone when she's supposed to be with Itachi.

_"Where is Itachi by the way"_ she thought. She waited and waited till almost everyone left. She tried calling Itachi but was answered by his answering machine in his phone. Finally, it was closing time. He didn't come after all….

The following Monday…

_"He didn't call me after that night…not even once.."_ Tenten thought as she sighed discontently.

"Tenten?"

"TENTEN?" said the voice, louder this time.

Tenten got out of her daze and came face to face with her best friend.

"What's with you? Asked Neji in concern.

"Nothing" Tenten muttered.

"Well, so how's your date on Saturday? You must have enjoyed yourself." asked Neji.

Tenten looked up and hesitated a bit. In the end she said, "Of course I did! It was so fun! Itachi even sang me a song he composed! Isn't that sweet of him? And we were dancing the whole night!" And she tried to put on the biggest smile she could muster.

"What about you and Ino? What happened after you left the diner?"

"How did you know? I thought you were at the bar the whole night?" asked Neji suspiciously.

"Oh..erm..hehe yeah I was. I mean, Sakura said she saw you guys. You know how she loves to gossip, she tells me everything. Especially news about you."

Neji chucked. He knew Sakura had a major crush on him. "That silly girlfriend of yours." And then his tone of voice turned serious again. "Me and Ino? Nothing much, there's nothing much to say." He added.

Tenten frowned and thought about what he meant by nothing. She was about to ask him when he hurriedly bid her goodbye and ran off to class.

_"I wonder what's wrong with him? He's been acting so strange since last week." Pondered Tenten._

Later during the day…

Tenten was still thinking about why she hasn't seen Itachi all day and why he hasn't called her yet when Sakura appeared next to her.

"Tenten!" she exclaimed cheerily. "SO HOW WAS IT?"

"What?"

"DONT act dumb! OF COURSE I MEANT THE DATE!"

"Oh, it was great! I enjoyed it so much!"

"You're so lucky you know!"

"As if.." Tenten said quietly.

"What did you say?"

"Nothing!" Tenten said hurriedly.

"Oh, ok." Sakura thought she looked out of sorts today. "Hey look! There's a school dance coming up! Everyone's invited!" Sakura said as shewalked pass a poster of the event.

Tenten didn't even take a glance and she immediately tore the poster out. "School dances are so stupid! I rather do something more meaningful then go to this useless dance. It's a waste of time!"

"I would go if someone asks me to. You mean you wouldn't go even if Itachi asks you to?"

"I wonder if he would even ask me after that night…"

"What? What do you mean?"

"N..Nothing, I just meant No. I told you, school dances are a total waste of time. Don't tell me you're going!"

"Ok, ok I get it, I won't go too. It's not like I have a date. Never had, never will." Sighed Sakura.

"I gotta get going; I still have one more class. See you later." Waved Tenten.

Sakura was deep in thought as she walked along the corridors to her lockers.

_"I wish someone would ask me to that dance. How nice if I have a date and we can dance all night…"_ thought Sakura.

All of sudden, she felt her feet leave the ground and she was about to fall face flat onto the floor. Before she could react or grab onto something to prevent from falling, she went smack onto the floor. Shehowled in pain and looked up. A guy and a girl from her Math class were standing there laughing cruelly at her fall.

"What a clumsy nerd!" taunted the guy.

"She's not only ugly, she's a big, clumsy oaf as well! Look at her! She's so pathetic!" said the girl in her shrilly voice.

The other students around here were also laughing at her. Tears welled up in Sakura's eyes and she tried to blink them away. She mustn't cry in front of these stupid bullies! She felt so helpless and humiliated.

"OOhh, are you going to cry, crybaby Sakura!" said the girl cruelly.

"Shut you, you bitch!" screamed Sakura with all the courage she could muster.

Before she knew it, she was being struck by the guy. He has slapped her in her face and she fell backwards once again, crying in pain as she hit the cold hard floor.

"Don't ever call my girl that again, you bitch!" yelled the guy in anger. He started towards her and was about to strike again when he felt a hand holding his own hand.

"Touch her again and you're dead, sucker." Came the voice of the great Uchiha Sasuke.

Sasuke's point of view…

Sasuke was walking down the corridors when he saw a crowd and some commotion in front of him. He walked briskly towards the crowd and happen to see some guy hitting Sakura. His blood boiled when he saw what happened.

_"No one can bully MY Sakura except me, that stupid bastard! HOW DARE HE HIT HER!"_ he screamed in his mind. He furiously pushed the onlookers away and stormed towards the guy.

Sasuke could feel his anger rising. How dare he hurt Sakura! He started to twist the guy's hand and threw him the hardest punch he could. The guy screamed in pain and flew down the corridors and fainted. His face was in a mess with blood all over it. His girlfriend shrieked in horror and started shouting at Sasuke. Sasuke ignored her, went over and picked Sakura up bridal style, and walked off in a cool manner away from the classrooms.

Sakura was more in shock than in pain.

_"Did Uchiha Sasuke just saved her from that guy? That Uchiha!"_ she thought confused. She looked up at him and saw that his face was as expressionless as the Sasuke she knew. After 5 minutes when they were far away from the scene, Sasuke put her down.

"You didn't have to do that. I could stand up for myself you know" she said quietly.

Sasuke glared at her and said furiously, "What the hell is wrong with you? I just saved you, shouldn't you be thanking me?"

"What? I didn't ask you to save me, asshole! Who needs your stupid help!" exclaimed Sakura, her blood boiling. _"Why did he always had to annoy her!"_ she thought.

"Oh yeah, AS IF you could! Look at yourself, You're all bruised and battered and he was about to hit you again. You're an idiot you know that?

"Shut up bastard! My business is none of yours! JUST leave me alone! I don't need any help especially from a bastard like YOU!

"You know what? Yeah, I shouldn't have hit that guy for you. I should just let him beat you to death, since what he said was true, You're stupid, clumsy, ugly, good for nothing NERD! You shouldn't even be living, you're so useless!" yelled Sasuke, his face red.

That was the last straw. Sakura walked towards him and gave him the biggest slap. Sasuke staggered backwards on the impact of her slap.

"I HATE YOU! Why are you always SO MEAN TO ME? I didn't do anything toyou at all! I know I'm stupid, I'm a nerd! I'm clumsy! I'm useless! Are you happy now? You're just like all of them, bastards! Losers! I HATE YOU!" she screamed.

Her tears were falling like rain. She felt so hurt by what he just said. She didn't care how horrible she looked like now, she couldn't care about the other people who were witnessing this heated exchange, she couldn't care about anything else. She just ran as fast as she could to the only place where she could have peace and quiet and no one insulting her.

Sasuke touched the spot where she just slapped him and stared at her retreating figure and immediately felt guilty. For the first time in his life, Uchiha Sasuke felt lost. He didn't know what to do…

* * *

Hey guys, Thanks for reading! Remember to leave me a review! Sorry for not updating so regularly now adays. I was a kind of busy with some school stuff. I know this chapter is boring and it sucks…But I hope you guys like it anyways…No Neji/Ten action in this chapter but I promise there'll be in the next chapter. That's it for now! 


	6. Chapter 5

More than Friends

Summary: Tenten's out to find true love. Tired of hearing her best friend, Hyuga Neji, talk about how easy it is to get a girl. Tenten says she can find someone special before he ever could. Neji doesn't know the first thing about love--all he knows about are hormones. But after weeks of dating misery, both are ready to accept defeat...until Neji suggests they date each other. Do friends really make better partners? Pairings: Nejiten and Sasu/Saku

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto.

Rated: PG

**

* * *

Chapter 5**

Friday afternoon was cold and wet. Tenten's mood matched the dull and gloomy weather today. She didn't want to look stupid taking the initiative to call Itachi. 5 days had passed since Tenten had last seen or talked to Itachi. In fact, she hasn't even seen Sakura or Neji or Sasuke all day long. She wondered where all her friends were. As soon as broke out of her daze, she saw Neji waving frantically at her.

"Tenten! Where were you all morning? I feel like I haven't seen or talked to you in ages!" said Neji.

"Where was I? More like where were you! I couldn't find any of you guys the whole day! I wonder where Sakura is."

Neji chuckled and replied, "Some day today huh…All dark and gloomy. I couldn't find Sasuke too. Wonder what they are up to…How about hanging out at my house?"

Tenten giggled, "Sounds great! And you better not let Sakura or Sasuke hear what you said. I'm not helping you if you get killed."

"Neji, you really have to do something about your car," Tenten said as they pulled out of Konoha High's crowded parking lot.

"Why?"

"Why? You're asking me why? It's disgusting! I think there's something growing in your drink bottle." Tenten said as she held up the bottle for Neji to inspect. There was some green liquid sloshing around in the bottom. Then she pointed at the floor where her feet were resting. Piles of old newspapers were under her feet. There was also an assortment of change, dirty t-shirts and empty soda cans.

"You're right. As payment for a ride, you can clean it up for me. I'll even drive it to your house in the morning just to make it easy for you." Suggested Neji brightly.

"Fat chance! I'd probably end up I hospital, a victim of some toxic lurking in here." Tenten replied, and wrinkled her nose as she got out of the car.

"So how's the lovely Ino?" Tenten asked as soon as they settled down on the couch in Neji's house.

"Lovely." Neji answered dryly.

"Too bad Ino isn't really the kind of girl you could fall in love with. Guess I'm the leading contender in the race to find the perfect mate.

"What?" Neji shouted. Tenten was seriously bugging him now. "Why on earth would you think I shouldn't fall in love with Ino?"

"Didn't you see the way she looks at other guys? Obviously she got a roving eye. I just hope she doesn't eye my Itachi. You know, she is awfully pretty…"

"Give me a break. Ino would never ever go out with Itachi. He's totally inferior to me." Exclaimed Neji.

Tenten laughed. "Oh yeah, I forgot who I was talking to. You are the greatest guy in the whole wide world."

"I don't need your sacarsm. And you know what? That loser Itachi is still in love with his ex girlfriend. " Said Neji, feeling hurt.

Tenten was quiet for a moment. Then she said, "I mean it Neji, you're truly the best. I just need to look at your choice of friends to realize that. But why are you always criticizing and making up lies about Itachi?"

"I'm not Tenten. It's true. Sasuke told me that a week ago. He said that Mia had been calling him and they had been talking on the phone a lot nowadays."

"They are just friends! Hang on, did you say Mia?"

"Yeah, why? You know her? She was from Konoha High and she's a popular girl. She's in college now."

_"Mia…Mia..Mia…That girl from the bar the other night…The girl Itachi sang to…Did they rekindle their love, and that's why Itachi didn't call me these few days?"_ Tenten thought. Her mood crashed and she felt horrible.

"Earth to Tenten, ARE you there?" shouted Neji into her ears.

Tenten woke up from her trance. "Yeah, I'm sorry. I was just thinking about some stuff." She said in a quivering voice.

"Hey are you ok? You don't sound good."

"I'm fine, Neji, I'm good." Tenten lied. She silently hoped that Itachi will call her soon and explain what exactly is going on…

Later that night…

"Tenten, phonecall for you!" shouted her mom.

"I got it! Hello?" said Tenten. She wondered who would be calling her so late at night. Probably just Neji, she thought.

"Tenten..It's me."

Tenten froze.

"Look, I'm really sorry for not calling you sooner. I was busy with my band these few days. You see, we were practicing for the upcoming homecoming dance."

Silence…

"Are you angry with me Tenten? I'm sorry. Forgive me please?" pleaded Itachi.

"Oh no..I'm not angry. I was just..ermm..nothing. Anyway, how's your practice coming along?"

"It's great. And about the other night, I got your message. But the guys insisted I party with them, so I couldn't get back to you…I am really…"

"It's ok Itachi." Tenten cut in. "You don't have to apologize so many times you know!"

"I know, but I really am sorry. You doing anything tomorrow?"

"Nope."

"Let's go to Sam's Pizzeria. I'll pick you up at 6pm tomorrow ok?"

"Sure!"

"Ok, see you then."

Tenten heaved a huge sigh of relieve. She was glad that Itachi didn't call to dump her., which means he's over his ex girlfriend! Tenten went to bed happily that night.

On Sunday night…

"Bye!" Tenten yelled to her parents.

"Neji always comes to the door." Her mom called.

"Neji's a dork!" Tenten called back.

Itachi was waiting in his blue convertible. Tenten thought Itachi looked breathtakingly handsome. She hopped into his car and they made their way to the Pizzeria. For several minutes, they drove in silence. Tenten looked out of the window and saw many twinkling stars. She closed her eyes and wished that she would win the bet with Neji. She was ready to fall in love. When she opened her eyes, she found Itachi glancing at her with an amused expression.

"You're so beautiful."

Tenten's heart beat accelerated. Itachi's voice was deep and husky, sending chills down her spine.

"Would you go to the homecoming dance with me?" Itachi asked all of a sudden.

Tenten looked surprised but in her heart, she was bursting with joy. Despite her saying that dances are stupid and she would not go even if Itachi asked her to, she said yes.

Sam's pizzeria was a popular spot for dates. Tenten had been there a million times with Sakura, Sasuke and Neji. Itachi placed his hand on Tenten's back as he lead her to a corner booth.

"I like Pepperoni." Said Itachi.

Tenten looked at the menu and thought, "Neji and I always ordered the Hawaiian, that's our favourite…" But she decided to go with what Itachi wanted.

There was an awkward silence after their orders were taken. Finally Itachi spoke up.

"Are you and Neji an item before?"

"What!"

"I mean, did both of you date each other before? Both of you seemed inseperatable."

Tenten laughed and said, "Of course not! We're just friends! Why? Are you jealous?"

"No…" Itachi replied, "I was just curious."

"Oh…" said Tenten and they fell silent again.

"But I know one thing, Tenten. We can never be friends."

"Why?" her thoughts about Neji flew out of her mind as Itachi's strong hands covered hers.

Itachi looked right at her into her eyes. "Because I always wanted to kiss you, like I want to right now."

Tenten's cheeks were flaming red and she wasn't sure how to answer him. Fortunately, their pizza arrived and broke the tension. However, with Itachi staring intently at her, she couldn't swallow her pizza properly and practically gagged on all the cheese. She could barely breathe. She coughed and took a huge mouthful of her lemonade.

"So, Itachi, do you always write your own song lyrics?" asked Tenten, desperate to change the topic.

"Yeah, I do. I may write a song for you one day."

Tenten felt herself blushing to the roots of her hair. She looked down on her food and continued eating. She couldn't think of anything to say back. They fell into a silence again. Tenten could hear the couple from the booth behind them talking.

"Daddy took my credit card away for 2 months! He was pissed when I spent $200 on a jacket!" the girl whined.

"How unfair! No one can live without a card!" said the guy who was with her.

Tenten rolled her eyes.

"What can I do? Maybe I should sue him for negligence!" continued the girl.

Tenten giggled. "Did you hear what they were saying?" she asked Itachi.

"Oooh, It's so atrocious! Daddy took my rolls Royce and made me drive a junk! I cant face the world anymore!" Tenten imitated the girl and burst out laughing.

Tenten winked at Itachi but his expression was totally blank. Obviously he didn't think that Tenten was funny. Tenten sighed and she thought if Neji was here with her, they would be spending hours imitating them and laughing hysterically the whole time. Being with Itachi sure isn't the same as being with Neji…

"My band might get signed by an independent label. We could have a CD soon." Said Itachi.

Tenten was impressed. She pictured herself as the girlfriend of future rock star Uchiha Itachi. "Really? Will you give me a private listening to you album?" Tenten asked as she batted her eyelashes at him.

_"There, I flirted with him."_ She thought.

"Anytime Tenten, anytime." Itachi said as he held her hands.

It was pretty late by the time Itachi drove her home. Tenten started to pull the car's door handle when Itachi held her back. Then he leaned forward and kissed her. Tenten kissed him back and was glad she was sitting down as her legs felt wobbly. Finally they broke apart and Tenten walked up the path to her house. As she thought about the kissed they just shared, she felt something missing.

The next morning, Neji caught Tenten at the lockers.

"So, how was the date last night?"

"How did you know?"

"Sasuke told me."

"Amazing."

"Are you sure you are not saying that just to win the bet?" Neji raised his eyebrows at her.

"That stupid bet is the last thing I have on my mind right now."

"So you didn't find Itachi boring?"

"No! His band is going to release a CD."

"Sasuke told me that his brother had been saying that since last year."

"More importantly, he finds me fascinating." Tenten retorted.

"Yeah, after going out with Miss beauty queen Mia Thompson, you must seem like a rocket scientist."

"Thanks for the compliment." Tenten said sarcastically.

"Sorry, just tell me one thing."

"What!" Tenten asked getting irritated.

"Did he often check himself out in the mirrors?"

Tenten laughed. She had to agree with him. Itachi was pretty vain and she caught him looking at his reflection in the glass panels yesterday. Neji started to imitate how Itachi would look at himself in the mirror and then he turned serious again.

"Seriously Tenten, how much do you like him?"

Tenten thought for a moment. "I like him a lot. He's the guy for me."

"Don't say that too soon. A lot can happen between now and the prom." Said Neji as he left her for his classes.

As soon as Neji left, someone called her.

"Hey Tenten." A soft, weak voice called out to her.

"Sakura! There you are! I called you five times! What happened to you!" Tenten asked as she did a head to toe glance of Sakura. She looked terrible.

"Long story Tenten. I don't want to talk about it. Sorry I didn't return your calls. I had relatives over at my house during the weekends and I had to look after all my little cousins. They are monsters!" replied Sakura tiredly.

Tenten thought this was so unlike of Saukra. She was usually very bubbly and loud. Something must have happened, I'll wait till she is ready to tell me, she thought. As they walked to their first period together, they bumped into Sasuke. To Tenten's surprise, Sakura looked away and hurried off without insulting Sasuke. Sasuke just stared at Sakura and didn't say a thing. Tenten muttered a quick hello to Sasuke and hurried after Sakura.

_"Mmm, something has happened between them. Maybe Neji knows something about this. I'll have to interrogate him later."_ She thought. She sighed as she stepped into her physics class. This is going to be a long and boring day…

* * *

Thanks for reading! Please tell me if I'm going too slowly! Next chapter will be a small part on Neji/Ino, more Sasu/Saku! And more Neji/Ten before the dance! 


	7. Chapter 6

**More than Friends**

_Summary: Tenten's out to find true love. Tired of hearing her best friend, Hyuga Neji, talk about how easy it is to get a girl. Tenten says she can find someone special before he ever could. Neji doesn't know the first thing about love--all he knows about are hormones. But after weeks of dating misery, both are ready to accept defeat...until Neji suggests they date each other. Do friends really make better partners? Pairings: Nejiten and Sasu/Saku_

_Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto._

_Rated: PG_

**

* * *

Chapter 6 **

Neji couldn't get his mind off Tenten and Itachi. He had seen them flirting for the past few days and even saw them holding hands. He thought that it was weird to see Tenten acting like that. She seemed like a whole new person and he wasn't sure if he liked it. When he met the bet, he didn't think that she would do it so fast. Sure, Itachi is good looking and popular but his personality is so undesirable. Neji had never seen Tenten laugh when she was with him. She couldn't stop laughing when she was with him, he thought. Neji was getting nervous about losing the bet. Tenten would never stop making fun of him if he lost and Sasuke would give him a hard time for the next fifty years.

Neji thought that he was ready to take it to the next level with Ino as he pulled up to her house on a Saturday afternoon. As he walked up the steps to Ino's house, he whistled to himself. Ino answered the door and Neji drew his breathe as he took in what he saw. Ino was gorgeous as usual in a pair of tight jeans and red sweater. Her hair was tied loosely and several tendrils had escaped, framing her pretty face. Ino gave him a quick kiss on the cheek and they left for their date.

"Where are we going?" asked Ino.

"Lakers Pond." Replied Neji proudly.

"Is it pretty there?"

"Well, I can guarantee that the pond is sewage free. We're going to have a great time."

"I guess I have to take my chances." Said Ino.

"So how's life at Konoha high? Used to the life here yet?"

"It's ok. I've been buttering up some of the cheerleaders, so that I could get on the squad next season. I plan to transfer fully to Konoha High. And I think I have a good shot of being the president of the student government too."

"Really? Wow you sure are ambitious." Said Neji, glad that Ino was going to stay in Konoha high longer.

Soon they reached their destination. Though it was a warm and sunny day, they were the only ones there.

"This place is beautiful," Ino said, as if she secretly expected Neji to take her to a dump.

"Ino, may I present Laker's pond?"

Ino giggled and got out of the car. Neji grabbed the picnic basket and caught up with her.

"Just you and me and the sun!" Neji said cheerily.

"How cozy."

Neji started setting up the picnic area. Once he finished, he sat down, leaning back on his elbows and patted to the space beside him. "You table awaits, Madam."

Ino took a seat next to him and started opening up the picnic basket.

"How about a toast?" asked Neji as he raised his glass.

Ino grinned. Around them, golden red and yellow leaves drifted quietly onto the ground. The pond was a clear blue, sparkling under the sunlight. All they needed was some music and Laker's pond would be the most romantic place on earth.

"To us! And my new life here." Said Ino as she clicked her glass against Neji's and batted her eyelashes at him.

Neji put his drink down and started to edge closer to her. Their lips met and he kissed her softly. He felt a spark right away and his pulse began to race. He deepened the kiss and wished that Tenten was there to see it. She was going to have to eat his dust in the love department, he thought. Then Ino ran her fingers through his hair and he didn't think about anything else except her.

Next week in school…

"I asked Ino to the homecoming dance." Neji said to Sasuke. They just finished their intense basketball game.

"Did she say yes?"

"Dude, of course she said yes. Has a woman ever been able to resist my charms?" smirked Neji.

"I can think of one." Sasuke said as he shoved the basketball into Neji's stomach.

"Who?" Neji groaned.

"Who do you think? Tenten."

"Excuse me!"

"Tenten. Didn't you hear? Tenten, the girl whom you've been secretly in love with forever. She's never fallen prey to your charms."

"Tenten and I are FRIENDS. Get it? F-R-I-E-N-D-S. Look it up in the dictionary."

"Why don't you look up the word denial in the dictionary, man?"

"Hey I thought we were talking about Ino?" Neji said as they packed their stuff and headed to the carpark.

"We were. To tell you the truth, I don't understand why you're so desperate for a girlfriend. The Prom is still weeks away, you may find someone better."

Neji shook his head. "You know Sasuke, there's this really cool stuff in life. Stuff called love and happiness."

"So?"

"So what?"

"You think you're going to find all that with Ino?" questioned Sasuke.

"Yeah, why not?"

"I don't see how you can say you love some girl you've only known for a couple of weeks. Besides, you know Ino is just looking for fun. She's not the kind of girl you want to fall in love with."

"What do you know about women anyway? What about you? Who are you going to the prom with? You have been acting really wierd nowadays especially around Sakura. And you haven't been hitting on any girls in school." Neji replied, feeling a little annoyed.

"Piss off Hyuga. I don't want to talk about me. And I'm not going to the prom anymore." Sasuke said darkly.

"What? Why? So it's about Sakura? What happened between the two of you?" inquired Neji.

"I said lay off that topic." Shouted Sasuke angrily as he walked briskly towards his car.

"Hey cool it." Said Neji.

"Yeah whatever, see you Hyuga." Replied Sasuke as he drove off leaving Neji standing alone wondering what just happened.

Winter was coming to Konoha high. Everyone was wearing their new sweaters and commenting on how cold it was. Tenten closed the windows of her room and started thinking about the dance which was coming soon. Despite her continuous insistence that the whole idea of high school dances were stupid and a waste of time, she couldn't wait to walk in with Itachi's arm around her. She imagined all the jealous faces she would get and giggled to herself. She sighed as she thought again that Itachi's band would be performing that night, leaving less time for them to be together. But she comforted herself with the knowledge that every girl in the dance will be so jealous that she was with the sexy lead singer.

Friday afternoon, Tenten and Sakura headed to the malls to shop for dresses to the dance. Sakura still hasn't told Tenten who her date was yet. She had been in a bad mood for the past week and she was afraid to ask her about her date or Sasuke. Neji had told her Sasuke wasn't keen on the Sasuke-Sakura topic too. She wondered what happened. Sakura, however, seemed to be in a good mood today.

"How about this?" Sakura asked Tenten as she held up a pink dress with a ballooned skirt and a shocking pink feathers. The dress was hideous.

"If I wore that, you'll never see my face in Konoha High ever again." Said Tenten. She went over to another rack and picked a short black dress. It was simple but perfect.

Sakura picked out a pink chiffon dress and they headed for the dressing room.

"Sakura, you haven't told me who you're going with yet."

"Well…" Sakura hesitated. "Erm.. I'm going with Lee."

"Who?"

"Rock Lee from our English class."

"Oh..I didn't know that he's in our class."

"Yeah, he's not a popular guy. So am I. So when he asked me, I just agreed. No one will ever ask me anyway." Replied Sakura. She looked upset all of a sudden.

"What about Sasu…"

"Can we not talk about him please? We're here to get our dresses and enjoy ourselves."

"Ok…sure" Tenten said quietly.

"So, I guess Neji and Ino are getting serious huh?". Sakura said as she stepped out of the dressing room to take a good look at herself in the mirror.

"Tenten started to slip the black dress over her head and headed out.

"They are going to the dance together, if that's what you mean."

Sakura turned so that Tenten could zip her up.

"Yeah I know that. Everyone does. But the bracelet he gave her looks expensive. I overheard someone saying that bracelet costs a fortune."

Tenten stopped zipping halfway and looked up.

"What bracelet?"

Sakura raised her eyebrows.

"You don't know anything about it?"

Tenten shook her head. "I guess he forgot to mention it to me."

"It's silver and there a sapphire heart charm on it. That's her birthstone. I saw it yesterday while we were in the changing rooms. It was hard not to notice it the way she was holding up her wrist."

Tenten tried to look uninterested. "I didn't know Neji would do something like buying a gift for a girl…"

"I'm sure he'll tell you about that. Maybe he didn't have a chance yet." Replied Sakura.

"Yeah." Said Tenten. Inside, she was furious. How could Neji not have told her such an important thing. Was she his best friend or not? Neji never got presents for his girlfriend. Maybe they are really in love, she thought.

_"Was he going to abandon me now that he found someone better? He used to tell me everything about his life, including his love life. Now it seemed like he didn't need her anymore."_ Tenten thought depressingly.

"I think Neji going out with Ino is a complete waste of a great guy." Said Sakura breaking Tenten's thoughts. "She's a horrible person." She added.

"Why's that so?" Tenten had to admit that Ino wasn't someone she would befriend or like.

"That girl is a social climber. That day in the changing rooms, I heard her bragging about Neji. She was saying how handsome he looked and how popular he was but not a single word about his fabulous personality."

"Really?"

"Then I heard her tell Trisha that Neji was her winning ticket to popularity. Since everyone knows who he is, they will automatically know her too. Don't you think she's a bitch?"

"You're not jealous of Ino are you? I know you have a crush on Neji for a long time."

"I'm not jealous. Are you?" Sakura frowned.

"Don't make me laugh. I'll never go out with him. We're strictly friends."

"You always say that. But why wont you go out with him? I mean, he's a really great guy."

"Firstly, I like Itachi. Secondly, I just treat Neji as my brother."

Sakura laughed. "Ok, I'll just stop talking about you. I know you don't like to talk about Neji."

"Thanks. Now let's get out of here. My dream dress isn't here." Said Tenten as she pulled Sakura out of the shop. As they walked out, Tenten couldn't help the gnawing feeling in the pit of her stomach that Neji hadn't told her anything about the bracelet. She was going to confront him the moment she got home.

Later at home…

"Tenten?" Neji asked as he picked up the phone.

"Hey." Tenten's heart started racing all of a sudden. She felt that Neji sounded like a stranger.

"What's up?" he asked.

Tenten could hear him munching on something on the other side of the phone. "I have a date with Itachi. He's picking me up in an hour's time and I don't know what to wear."

"You're calling me to ask me what you should wear for your date?" Neji's voice sounded tired, as though he didn't want to talk to her at all.

"So I heard."

"What's that supposed to mean?"

Tenten could tell that Neji was getting irritated but she didn't care. "You and Ino are getting close huh? Everyone's talking about the expensive bracelet you gave her."

"It was her birthday. So what?"

"Why didn't you tell me? Am I so not important in your life that you didn't care to fill me in about your life?" said Tenten, her voice getting louder.

"Excuse me for having a life. I thought you were too busy kissing Itachi that loser to care what I was doing." Now Neji was mad too.

"Haha," said Tenten sarcastically. "Your lips were glued to Ino that I'm starting to think that you guys are Siamese twins."

Neji stopped his muching suddenly. "I think you're worried I'm going to win the bet. And you know that sucker isn't going to last till the prom."

"Stop calling him that! I am totally in love with Itachi. You, on the other hand only care for a pretty face."

"You don't know anything about me, Tenten."

"Yeah right. Now if you would excuse me, I have to finish getting ready for my date. Have a wonderful life." Tenten spat.

"Same to you." Neji muttered.

"Goodbye Hyuga." Tenten said as she slammed the phone down violently. She was on the verge of tears. She couldn't believe the conversation ended so badly. She tried to get excited about seeing Itachi but warm tears starting to roll down her cheeks. Her eyes were red. Tenten felt like she just lost her best friend.

On Monday morning…

Neji was feeling anxious about seeing Tenten. They had literature class together and they haven't spoken since that heated exchange last Saturday. He couldn't get it off his mind. One second later, he saw Tenten strolling into the class. She sat down next to Neji. Since there were so many other empty desk, Neji took that as a sign she wanted to make up. Once the tutor started her boring lecture, he scribbled "Truce" on a piece of paper and slid it over to Tenten and poked her with his pencil. Tenten turned around and gave him a small smile. Neji suddenly felt a huge weight being lifted off him. When the bell rang, Tenten got up and held out her hand.

"Friends?"

Neji nodded and squeezed her hands. "Forever."

Ino was waiting for Neji at the lockers and she greeted them as they approached her.

"Hey Ino. That's a beautiful bracelet." Tenten commented.

"Thanks, its from my sweet Neji."

Tenten rolled her eyes and replied, "Yup, as sweet as sugar. See You guys later."

"Guess what?" said Ino.

"What?" Neji asked as he kept his eyes on Tenten. She was standing with Itachi and she was laughing cheerfully.

"We're going to double date with Josh and Alice for the dance."

Neji frowned. He didn't like those two very much. Both of them were obnoxious.

"Isnt that great? If I become good friends with Alice, I'd be in the cheerleading team!" said Ino happily.

Neji sighed and said dryly, "Yeah, that would be fun."

They separated at the door of Ino's next class. Neji spotted Sasuke in front and jogged to catch up with him.

"Hey Uchiha, what's up?"

"Hey Hyuga." Replied Sasuke.

"Are you ok?"

"Yeah, I'm…" Sasuke abruptly stopped in his tracks and was staring hard at something, or rather, someone.

Neji looked up and saw Sakura with a guy whom he didn't recognized. They were talking about the dance.

"Sakura, I'll pick you up at 7pm on Saturday ok?"

"Sure Lee. And thanks for asking me to the dance." Sakura smiled as Lee held her hands.

Beside him, Neji could feel a large amount of heat emitting from Sasuke. He glanced at him and saw that he was frowning and his fist was balled.

"You're not jealous, are you?"

"NO." Sasuke seethed.

Suddenly, Sakura's eyes were on them.

Sasuke said loudly and coldly to Neji, "I just don't understand how a nerd like her could get a date for the dance. Oh yeah, I know why. That guy is a nerd too. Only people of the same type ask each other out." He added.

"Stop insulting Sakura, You bastard!" yelled Lee. His fists were also balled, ready to fight Sasuke. However Sakura held him back.

"Don't waste your breath on losers, Lee. Come on, let's go." Said Sakura calmly.

Sasuke was furious. How dare she! He charged forward and grabbed her arm to stop her from leaving.

"Hey! Let her go!" shouted Lee.

"Get away, idiot." Said Sasuke as he pushed him away forcefully and Lee fell flat onto the floor.

"Leave us ALONE Uchiha." Said Sakura as strongly as she could while looking straight back at him with determined eyes.

Sasuke was taken aback. He had thought that she would be that crybaby Sakura he knew. They stared at each other for a minute until Sakura shrugged his hands off her. She casually walked towards Lee, supported him and walked pass Sasuke.

"Don't ever touch my boyfriend again." Was what she said. Then she left.

Sasuke was still in a daze. He was extremely red in the face and if looks could kill,anyone who saw Sasuke now would have dropped dead instantly. Neji walked up to him and tapped him lightly. He didn't want to agitate Sasuke any further.

As abruptly as he stopped before, Sasuke said, "I'm going to the dance."

"What? I thought you said…"

Before Neji could finish his sentence, Sasuke randomly grabbed a blonde girl and asked her to go to the dance with him. Of course that lucky girl was overjoyed and immediately said yes and walked off giggling with her bunch of friends.

"Sasuke…are you…"

"I'm fine Neji. I'll see you later. I got to get to my class."

Neji sighed as he watched Sasuke leave. There's going to be lots of tension at the dance, he thought. _"I hope everything goes well"_ he added silently.

* * *

Ok guys, that's it for now! I've been getting lesser review nowadays. I do hope I'm not boring people. Anyway, Thanks to those who reviewed and thanks for reading and please leave me a review! Next chapter will be the dance..and Ten/Neji and Sasu/Saku! See ya then! 


	8. Chapter 7

**More than Friends**

_Summary: Tenten's out to find true love. Tired of hearing her best friend, Hyuga Neji, talk about how easy it is to get a girl. Tenten says she can find someone special before he ever could. Neji doesn't know the first thing about love--all he knows about are hormones. But after weeks of dating misery, both are ready to accept defeat...until Neji suggests they date each other. Do friends really make better partners? Pairings: Nejiten and Sasu/Saku_

_Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto._

_Rated: PG_

**

* * *

Chapter 7**

November 1st, homecoming Saturday was cold and sunny. Since Josh was on the football team and Alice was a cheerleader, Neji and Ino were going to the football game in the afternoon, and then going home to chance later for the dance. When Neji and Ino got to the game, they scanned the place for a seat and Ino pulled Neji over to the section behind the cheerleaders. Neji saw Sasuke sitting alone out of the corner of his eye and gestured him to come over to sit with them.

"Hi Sasuke, how are you?" greeted Ino.

"I'm ok." He replied in a monotone voice.

Ino didn't seem to mind his lack of enthusiasm. "So, who are you taking to the dance?"

Sasuke shrugged. "Don't know her name."

"My girls told me that you and that Sakura had a thing going on. I thought you were going to ask Sakura. But then I heard she's going with this other unpopular guy called Lee." Said Ino.

Ino had hit a nerve. Sasuke scowled at her and glared at Neji. However, Ino didn't seem to notice. She continued, "What do you see in that wide forehead geek anyway? She's so plain looking and blah…"

Neji nudged Ino in the ribs. "I think she's pretty." Neji said.

"You don't want to go out with a nerd like her. It'll hurt your reputation. I'm sure you could get someone better, Sasuke." Ino said firmly.

"Tenten really likes Sakura." Neji said. "She's her best friend after me." Neji said, trying to to tell Ino to lay off Sasuke. Neji could see Sasuke fuming.

"Well, Tenten liking her doesn't say much. She, herself isn't that popular too, you know?" Ino's words made Neji's stomach churn.

"What's that supposed to mean?" Neji had totally forgotten Sasuke was beside them.

"Well, Tenten's nice, but…" Ino trailed off.

"But what? Tenten doesn't hang out with the populars because she got better things to do. Like writing and hanging out with me." Said Neji, getting a little cranky. He couldn't stand people saying something negative about Tenten.

"Pardon me, Neji. I was just making a simple observation." Ino sounded hurt.

Neji immediately realized that he was too harsh on her. "I'm sorry. I guess I'm a little big brotherish when it comes to Tenten. Sasuke knows what I mean, don't you?"

Neji looked on his right and expected Sasuke to break the tension but unfortunately, the seat was empty.

"Nevermind." Ino said. "I'm sure we can find something more interesting to talk about other then Tenten."

As Ino launched into a speech about how much Neji was going to like her dress, he sighed and tried to appear interested.

Later that night…

Tenten had to admit the school gym looked really pretty. The committee must have spent a lot of time on this. There were white lights strung up all over the walls and even on the ceiling. The room was lined with tiny tables and iron chairs with candles. On the walls were huge paintings of famous Paris sights. And at the entrance was a paper mache sculpture of the Eiffel Tower. It looked like the theme for the dance was Paris. Itachi and she had arrived at the dance early, since his band had to set up their equipment for the performance. Now the band was in full swing but not many people had arrived yet. Tenten scanned the crowd for Sakura and found her standing alone with a glass in her hand. She didn't look like she was enjoying herself. In fact, she looked depressed.

"Hey, what happened to Lee?" asked Tenten as she approached Sakura.

Sakura pointed at the dance floor.

"He's been dancing the moment we got here. How can anyone have so much energy? I'm so tired already, so I left the dance floor. I think I can definitely rule him out at Mr Right." Sakura sighed.

"Well, you look beautiful today. You should keep an eye for other interesting prospects."

Sakura did look incredible. She looked every inch a prom queen in her pink chiffon dress and she wasn't wearing her spectacles. The girls had gone back to the mall and gotten the dresses they tried on the other day.

"Well, yeah, I guess so. I haven't been teased tonight. Not even once. I'll just take a walk outside and look around. Enjoy yourself Tenten."

Once Sakura was gone, Tenten felt like a wallflower. The gym was slowly filling up with students and Tenten was the only one standing alone. She was bored and frustrated. Her new heels were killing her and she hopped towards one of the tables. From her view, she could see Neji entering the gym with Ino. After watching Neji and Ino move onto the dance floor, Tenten leaned her head against the wall and closed her eyes. Her eyes popped open when she heard Itachi speaking into the microphone.

"I'd like to dedicate this song to Tenten," he said in his deep, sexy voice. "She's my brown-eyed girl."

A hundred pairs of eyes were immediately on Tenten. She stood up and gave Itachi a little wave and a smile, feeling herself blushing. She couldn't believe Itachi wrote a song for her. She looked at Itachi as he sang the song. The tempo was slow and perfect for the dance's theme. However, she felt depressed. Tenten hadn't been on the dance floor even once, and now she was just going to stand on the side and watch everyone have fun.

"May I have this dance, little lady?"

Tenten turned around. Neji was standing beside her, his eyes twinkling. In his navy blue suit and tie, he looked elegantand sophisticated. He looked like he just stepped out of a GQ magazine.

"It would be my pleasure, sir." Tenten replied, stepping into his arms.

Neji was scanning the floor and Tenten thought he was trying to keep an eye on Ino. But she was wrong.

"I wonder where's Sasuke and his date." He commented.

"Sakura isn't here too." Tenten said.

"I hope they are alright." Neji murmured as he pulled Tenten a little closer. Then they both fell silent.

Neji and Tenten hadn't danced much together. Neji had been to every school dance but Tenten only attended a few. And her usual pattern was that as soon as she arrived, she would start figuring how to ditch her date and head home.

"You look great Tenten." Neji said, looking into her eyes. They had moved into the middle of the dance floor and Tenten was aware that his arms were wrapped tightly around her.

"Do you really think so?" Tenten asked. Neji never gave her any compliments. They were more into affectionate teasing.

Neji nodded. "Yup."

"Thanks, but why are you being so nice? Its so unlike you."

Tenten was aware of Itachi's sexy voice singing in the background but her attention was all on Neji.

Neji chuckled. "Am I being nice? Well, excuse me." He spun her around and dipped her almost to the floor. The serious expression left his face completely.

"Hey, do you think that dress is too tight for you? It looks like its sewn on."

Now that was the Neji she knew. "Oh yeah, let me ask you something. How long did you look into the mirror today to do your hair?" Tenten asked giggling. "Five, six hours?"

They both broke out laughing. Then as Itachi picked up the speed of the song a little, Tenten started leading Neji in something that resembled a Tango. They shot across the dance floor, forcing other couples to clear a path for them. By the time the music slowed down, they had reached the other side of the gym. There wasn't much light and they were left dancing in the shadows. Neji pulled Tenten close again and she found herself putting her arms around his neck.

All of a sudden, Tenten felt out of breath. She was acutely conscious of both the pulse in her neck and the firmness of Neji's muscles beneath her hands. When she tilted her head to look at his face, she found Neji's mouth just millimeters away from her. Time seemed to stop, and she couldn't tear herself away from the piercing light in his eyes. This was what the other girls see, she thought. This is the Neji she've never known before. Tenten moved her head closer to his, closing her eyes. She almost felt sick to her stomach, but she couldn't stop herself.

"May I cut in?" Tenten heard a high pitched voice hiss in her ear.

"Ino! I was going to find you." Said Neji.

"Well here I am" Ino said, ignoring Tenten.

"Yeah, here you are," Tenten said she she backed off, away from Neji. "I'll catch you later Hyuga."

Tenten worked her way through the couples on the dance floor, determined to locate Sakura. She needed to talk to someone right now. When she made her way halfway through the room, she turned back and took a sneak at Neji. He was staring at her with an unreadable expression. Tenten felt paralyzed. At that moment, Ino pulled Neji's Head down for a kiss and the spell was broken. Tenten wasn't sure what had just happened between Neji and her, but she hoped that whatever it was, it wouldn't happen again

"Hey Tenten, have you seen Sakura?"

"No Lee. I'm looking for her too."

"Well then, let's go look for her together!" exclaimed Lee cheerily as he dragged Tenten along with him. Tenten groaned.

On the other hand…

Sakura had walked out of the school and was sitting alone by the pond. She looked up at the starry sky and started thinking about a certain jerk.

"_What is happening between us? Why do I feel so hurt when he insulted me? I don't feel that bad when other people insult me. Why him?"_ thought Sakura as tears rolled down her cheeks.

All of a sudden, Sakura heard some giggling and footsteps coming at her directly. Before she could react, she was whisked away by someone and everything became a blur. Before she knew it, she was behind a bush.

Sakura thought she was being kidnapped and panic.

"Get off me. Who are you!" she screamed.

"Shut up, will you?"

Sakura frozed at the voice. She looked up and saw Sasuke panting heavily and glaring at her.

"What are you d…" Sasuke clamped his hand on her mouth, hoping that she'd stop before those stupid fan girls knew where he was. Instead of cooperating, she bit him. Withdrawing his hand, Sasuke hissed out a series of curses. Satisfied that he had no other way to stop her, Sakura readied herself to let out another scream. But her cry was muffled when Sasuke suddenly pressed his lips against hers.

His lips were soft. '_Almost like... rose petals?_' Sakura thought as her eyes widened. But he broke off the kiss as quickly as it came, not wanting to get attached to the feeling of her lips against his.

'_That IDIOT! He kissed me!_' Sakura thought, trying to conceal the fact that she might've enjoyed it.

'_Tell me I didn't just do that,_' Sasuke thought. '_At least it shut her up._'

Meeting her gaze, he realized that she was expecting a rationalization of what just happened.

"It was the only way you'd be quiet." Sasuke muttered.

"B-but you kissed me!" stuttered Sakura

"Is that against the law?" asked Sasuke, trying to act as if the kiss didn't bother him.

Now, Sakura was furious. How dare he take away her first kiss. She was about to argue when Sasuke suddenly said, "I'm sorry."

"What? What did you say?" Sakura was taken aback. She never ever in her life heard Sasuke apologizing to anyone before.

"I don't want to repeat it." Came the reply.

Sakura stared at Sasuke in silence. The only noises were the sounds of leave rustling in the breeze. Sasuke's fan girls had retreated when they were satisfied that he was not at the pond.

"Why do you hate me?" Sakura asked abruptly.

Sasuke wasn't expecting that question and he choked on his saliva at Sakura's unexpected question, as he jerked his startled gaze from the ground towards her.

"What?" Sasuke replied in answer to her question.

"Why do you hate me?" she asked again. "Is it because of something I said? Or it it because I'm just an unpopular geek who'll never catch the attention of any guy in Konoha High?" She paused to ponder, head tilted slightly to the side.

"You know, I'm tired of fighting and arguing with you everytime we meet. We have been doing that for the past 3 or 4 years? I'm sure our best friends are sick of that too. Whatever it is, I'm sorry," she offered. Sakura looked at Sasuke in the eye.

He stared at her, flabbergasted. "I…you…didn't do anything," he stammered. "And I never said I hated you…did I?"

"_Did Sasuke just stammered?"_ Sakura thought.

"Oh, well, not in so many words," she replied slowly.

"But I figured with the way you treat me all the time, you must not like me very much, and so I thought it must've been something I did to you. Was it that prank which happened when I first met you?" She looked up at him again.

"Or maybe it was the shoe. I didn't mean to hit you with it, you know. It was just a coincidence that you were in the wrong place at the wrong time!"

"It's not that!" Sasuke said. He couldn't believe they were having this conversation now.

"Then what is it?" she persisted. "How did I make you hate me, and how can I…stop making you hate me?"

"But…I…I don't hate you," he stammered.

She regarded him with a furrowed brow.

"But, then why do you insult me so much?" she questioned. "Why do you always try to make me feel so bad about myself?" She dropped her gaze, looking hurt as she thought of what he said to her the other day.

"I…I thought about it a lot, and I don't like it that you hate me," she admitted softly.

"Because I…I realized that I LIKE you, and I'd rather be friends than enemies. S-so whatever I have to do to make things up, I'm willing to do it." she added.

Sasuke was completely floored; it felt as though somebody had just sucker-punched him in the gut. But he had to admit to himself that it must have taken a lot of courage for her to just say something like that out of the blue, and he couldn't help but feel warmed by her sincerity. It didn't occur to him that she might be lying to him, that it might be some sort of joke. Sakura just wasn't the kind of a person who would do something like that to anybody, even to him.

Sakura sighed and slowly rose to her feet, and he realized that she'd taken his thoughtful silence as a sign of rejection.

"Well," she began quietly, "if you ever decide to forgive me, you know where to find me." She started to walk away as her tears started to fall again.

Sasuke just stood rooted to the ground, watching Sakura leave and trying to absorb what she just said. "Why…Why me.." Sasuke mumbled to himself.

"I love singing in front of a crowd." Itachi said hours later.

It was almost one in the morning and Itachi was driving Tenten back to her house. Tenten had given up looking for Sakura and she had been amused by Lee's disappointed face.

"Your band is great!"

"What can I say? Rock and roll Rocks!" exclaimed Itachi.

Soon, Itachi's convertible pulled up at Tenten's house. Itachi switched off the ignition and turned in his seat to face Tenten. He pulled her closer and kissed her with more intensity then he ever had before. Chills ran up Tenten's spine and every nerve in her body was tingling with excitement.

"Neji…" she whispered, feeling his soft hair beneath her fingertips.

In the next second, Tenten's heart stopped. She couldn't believe what just happened. Tenten just realized that she called Neji's name.

_"What was I thinking! Did Itachi notice? Oh my god…"_ thought Tenten in alarm.

She pulled back and stared at Itachi's face. In response, he hugged her even more tightly. Itachi obviously hadn't heard her mutter Neji's name. A huge wave of relief washed over Tenten but she couldn't concentrate on Itachi's kisses anymore. She was thinking what was wrong with her and why she had said Neji's name instead of Itachi. She shook her head slightly and tried to clear her thoughts. Tenten tried to reassure herself that saying Neji's name didn't mean anything at all. She had just seen Neji and he was on her mine, that's all. No big deal.

"I never want to stop kissing you, " Itachi said as he held her hands gently.

"I love you, " Tenten whispered and buried her face against his shoulders.

Tenten had never said those three words to a guy before except Neji. But that was different,it was a family and friends sort of love. However, she didn't feel any fireworks when she said that to Itachi. Maybe she was expecting too much. At that moment, she was dead sure that Itachi was her destiny. End of story.

It wasn't until Tenten turned off the lights on her night stand that she realized that Itachi hadn't said "I love you" back to her. But she tried to comfort herself that she would…soon…

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I wanna say a big THANK YOU to all my reviewers and readers! You guys rock! I'm typing up the next chapter already and it will be up real soon. Hope you guys enjoy this chapter! 


	9. Chapter 8

**More than Friends**

_Summary: Tenten's out to find true love. Tired of hearing her best friend, Hyuga Neji, talk about how easy it is to get a girl. Tenten says she can find someone special before he ever could. Neji doesn't know the first thing about love--all he knows about are hormones. But after weeks of dating misery, both are ready to accept defeat...until Neji suggests they date each other. Do friends really make better partners? Pairings: Nejiten and Sasu/Saku_

_Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto._

_Rated: PG_

**

* * *

Chapter 8 **

_Basking in the sun at Laker's pond, Ino and Neji lounged on a thick plaid blanket. Neji looked at the water thinking how peaceful and calm it was and how happy he was to be young and in love. Hearing the tinkling sound of female laughter, Neji turned his head. But it wasn't Ino who was laughing, it was Tenten. Her well muscled legs were stretched out in front of her. Without questioning, Neji lay down with his head in her lap, smiling into her sparkling eyes. Slowly, Tenten bent down and brushed her lips across the sensitive skin next to his earlobe. Then her mouth moved to his, and Neji hoisted himself to a sitting position. He increased the pressure of his lips. In the next second, they were hugging, holding each other so tightly that Neji felt as if they were two halves of the same person…._

In the middle of kissing Tenten, Neji woke up. His heart was pounding, and beads of sweat were forming at his temples. His world felt as if it had been thrown completely off balance. What just happened? Of course he dreamt of Tenten lots of times in the past but his was different. He was KISSING her. Ino should be the one he should be fantasizing about. She was his girlfriend and he was in love with her. But that kiss with Tenten felt so real. Neji rubbed his eyes and looked to his left. The alarm clock read 1.15 P.M. A little chagrined that he had slept so late, he stumbled into the bathroom to brush his teeth, pushing the thoughts of Tenten out of his mind. Neji splashed ice-cold water on his face, deciding that he should go out and find a game of basketball. Some exercise was exactly what he needed. Everyone knew that dreams didn't mean anything.

"Yup the dream about Tenten meant nothing at all." Neji said to his reflection in the mirror.

"Hey Hyuga, how was the dance?" Sasuke asked on Monday morning.

The boys were in the library meeting about their oral report again. Their topic was on Egyptian Pyramids.

"The band sucked, but I had a good time anyway." Neji answered.

Sasuke lifted one eyebrow. "That's funny, I've seen my brother's band a few times, and I think they're pretty good."

"To each his own." Neji shrugged and opened a textbook. "By the way, I didn't see you at the dance. Where were you?"

As Neji predicted, that remark took Sasuke's mind off Itachi and his stupid band. Sasuke pushed his chair back. "I just remembered that I forgot to return one of my books. Be right back," he replied.

Neji watched Sasuke walked towards the library counter. He wondered what Sasuke was doing when he saw Sakura was at the counter too but she had not noticed that Sasuke was approaching her yet. Neji frowned when Sasuke suddenly U-turned and walked back to his seat. What was wrong with that guy?

"What were you doing." Asked Neji.

"Nothing." Replied Sasuke nonchalantly.

"You call that nothing! You were going to return your book because you saw Sakura there too and then you turned back without returning your book? Please explain!"

Sasuke remained silent as he watched Sakura leave the library. Then he put his head in his hands. "I kissed her and she told me that she liked me," Sasuke muttered under his breath but Neji caught what he was saying.

"What? You kissed Sakura? When? She likes you too?" Neji said a little too loud. People were staring at them now and the librarian was glaring at them.

"Don't shout idiot! I'm not telling you anymore!" said an annoyed Sasuke.

"Alright, Ok I'll be quiet. So when did you kiss her? What happened?" whispered Neji.

"During the dance when I was escaping from those stupid girls. I ran into Sakura. And I kissed her to keep her from screaming. And then she suddenly asked me why I hated her and she said that she likes me. What do I do?" asked Sasuke desperately.

Neji tried to take in what Sasuke had just said. "Wow, that must have taken her a lot of courage. To admit that she likes you. You don't usually feel like that when other girls tell you that they like you. What did you say when she said that she likes you?"

"I didnt answer her and she left."

"Do you like her?"

"No…I mean, I don't know. She's not like other girls. Those girls only like me for my looks. I don't know what to say…" muttered Sasuke.

Neji sighed. This was the first time he had seen Sasuke like that. "As your best friend, I can only say, if one day you realize you do really like her, you have to tell her the truth or you'll regret it your whole life."

Sasuke groaned and buried his face into his hands. Neji decided to leave Sasuke alone and turned back to his book on pyramids. The report was due in a week and he had a lot of reading to do.

"I haven't even been here for a semester, and I'm already friends with the right people," Ino said to Neji on Wednesday afternoon. They were sitting in his car and they had been kissing for about fifteen minutes. Neji felt uncomfortable whenever Ino mentioned her current level of popularity. At first he thought she just wanted to get to know people. But now she seemed obsessed. He had seen her being rude to people who were no in the "in" crowd.

"That's fantastic." Muttered Neji flatly. "Now your life is complete."

"And its all thanks to you! Thank goodness I found you." Said Ino as she flipped her hair over one shoulder and smiled at Neji flirtatiously.

"What do you mean by that?" Neji tried to keep his tone light.

"Well, since everyone likes you, they automatically like me. You're my angel."

Over the past few weeks, Neji had been convincing himself that Ino really loved him and he loved her back. But now, the doubts he's been having are flooding his mind. Ino hadn't shown any interest in getting to know his friends unless they happen to be cheerleaders or athletes. And whenever she told him how much she liked him, the word popularity always followed in the next sentence. Basically, Ino was treating him more like a trophy then a boyfriend. In a flash, Neji was hit with the knowledge that he had forced himself to fall in love with Ino because he wanted to win the bet he made with Tenten. Ino's perky voice broke Neji's thoughts.

"We're the best looking couple in Konoha High, don't you think so?"

Neji nodded in silence and he felt as though his whole world was crumbling around him.

Thursday night, Tenten and Neji were hanging out at the den in her house, watching A night to Remember. Neji felt relaxed and Tenten was staring at the television set in silence, shoving popcorn into her mouth. Althought Neji wasn't thrilled at the prospect of having Tenten rub his nose that he might lose the bet, he still wanted to talk to her about Ino. After all she was his best friend and she was a girl and she knew more about woman then he did.

"Tenten, I think Ino is some sort of a social climber," Neji said as he took a handful of popcorn and shoved it into his mouth.

"No kidding," Tenten responded, sighing.

"Well, I thought maybe I'm not as much in love with her as I thought."

"Hmmm," said Tenten.

"Tenten, are you listening to me?" Neji asked annoyed and he poked her.

"Do you think that Itachi could still be in love with Mia?" she asked without answering his question.

"Tenten, I just told you that I may not be in love with Ino anymore."

Tenten put down the popcorn and looked at Neji.

"The thing is, this morning during poetry lesson, Mrs Henley called on Itachi to read aloud the poem he wrote."

"So?" Neji said, getting more irritated with Tenten. She seemed to have no interest in what he was saying.

"It was a love poem," Tenten said.

"Please spare me the details. I don't want to know what thatloser had to say to you."

"The poem wasn't about me."

"What?" Neji asked, his curiosity rising.

"The words were all about loss and cruel distance and separation." Tenten bit her lip.

"And?"

"I think he wrote that for Mia which means that he's not in love with me."

"That guy is a sleazebag. You'd be better off if he's still in love with Mia."

Neji suddenly thought that if both of them broke off with their respective partners, then they would be even in terms of the bet. And maybe he might fall in love again before the prom. Anything's possible!

"Itachi is not a sleazebag!" Tenten shouted. "If you say that one more time, I'm going to rip your head apart, just shut up!"

Neji was getting totally fed up with Tenten. She just told him that Itachi was still in love with his ex girlfriend. If that did not qualify as a sleazebag, then what did?

"Fine, what do you want me to say?"

Tenten threw herself face down onto the couch and buried her face into a pillow.

"Neji would you mind taking off? I just want to be alone." Tenten said and she switched off the television and closed her eyes.

Without saying goodbye, Neji stormed out of the house. He just wanted to have a serious conversation with Tenten about Ino and all she cared was herself and that wimp she called a boyfriend. As he sped home, he thought of Ino again. Sure she had a few bad points but who doesn't have problems? Everyone does. At least she would be happy to see him, he thought. Then he made a U-turn and drove to Ino's house.

The Wednesday before Thanksgiving was bitter and cold, just like Tenten's mood. After school, Tenten found Itachi at his locker with his bandmates. When she got near him, his band mates stopped talking and looked at her.

"Are we still on for tomorrow night?" Tenten asked, putting an arm around his waist. Now with the threat of Mia hanging over her head, she was acting more and more possessive of Itachi and she didn't like herself that way.

"I wouldn't miss it." He answered dropping a kiss on Tenten's head.

"So, I'll see you at eight tomorrow." Tenten walked down the halls, feeling better than before. She thought if Itachi wanted to spend time with Mia, he wouldn't have agreed to come over to her house for dinner. As Sakura had insisted, Tenten was just being paranoid.

On Thursday evening…

Tenten and her mom were setting the table for their traditional turkey dinner.

"So is Neji isn't coming tonight?" Tenten's mom asked.

Tenten shook her head. Neji usually came by their house every major holiday. But this year wasn't the same anymore. Their friendship hadn't been the same since they last quarreled.

"Well, he and Itachi aren't really friends," Tenten said.

"Oh that's too bad. Grandma was really looking forward to seeing him. She says that he always made her laugh." Tenten's mom said.

Tenten shrugged. "Well she should be happy to meet Itachi, I mean he's the one who's my boyfriend."

"I'm sure they will be happy to meet Itachi too, honey. I was just saying that they wanted to see Neji too."

"Maybe at Christmas mom."

When the phone rang, Tenten had a sinking feeling in her stomach. It must have been woman's intuition. She ran to the phone and answered it with trembling hands.

"Hello?"

"Hey Tenten, its me." Said Itachi, his voice as sexy as usual.

"Hi Itachi." _Maybe he was just calling to see if he could bring us anything_, Tenten thought.

"I'm sorry Tenten, I don't think I can make it to your place tonight."

"That's too bad, are your parents giving you a hard time?" said Tenten trying hard to conceal her disappointment. She looked over at her mom who was pretending not to listen to her conversation.

"Yeah..my grandparent are here and everything. Look, I'm really sorry."

"Yeah, my grandparents are visiting too."

"I'll call you this weekend ok?"

"Sure." As Tenten hung up the phone, she braced herself for her mom's comments. She probably would say that Neji never canceled out on her before. However, none came.

"Dinner's ready," was all she said. Tenten took her seat and sliced a pile of turkey for herself. That poor turkey wasn't in any better shape than she was. Suddenly, she lost her appetite.

When the doorbell rang, Tenten jumped up from the table and raced out to the front door. Maybe Itachi could make it after all and wanted to surprise her! And maybe he had a bouquet of flowers ready for her! Tenten pulled open the door excitedly. But she found Neji standing at her door step holding a pumpkin pie instead.

"Special delivery for the family," he said cheerily, stepping inside.

Tenten impulsively ran up to him and gave him a hug. She had forgotten that she could always count on Neji to improve her mood.

"Shouldn't you be taking your mom's homemade pie to Ino's house?" Tenten asked.

"She went home to see her friends and relatives. Besides, you don't think I'd let a tradition slide, do you?" Neji said and headed for the dining room.

"Hyuga Neji!" Tenten heard her grandmother exclaim. "Is it snowing outside?"

Neji walked towards her and gave her a kiss on her cheek. "It just started this very minute. Mother nature must have known you all were coming to town."

"You kids!" she said. "I'm glad you came over. Tenten had been mopping around."

Neji looked at Tenten and raised his eyebrows. Tenten shrugged.

"Well, don't just stand there, go get yourself a plate!" said Tenten's father. All of a sudden, Tenten's appetite came back and pumpkin pie sounded like a perfect remedy for her case of blues.

"Let's go for a walk in the snow," Neji suggested to Tenten after dinner.

Everyone was sitting around the fireplace in the den. Tenten's grandparents were dozing in their armchairs and her dad looked like he was about to follow suit. Ouside, snow was falling heavily.

"Go enjoy yourselves, kids," said Tenten's mom.

"Yeah, I could use some exercise after all that food." Replied Tenten and she headed to the door.

Neji followed her out to the front hall and rummaged through a basket where Tenten kept an assorted range of hats. Neji pulled out an old green and gold polka dot hat with a pom pom onit and stuck it onto Tenten's head.

"I'm not wearing that! People will get a heart attack if they see me!"

Neji ignored her protest and said, "If you wear that, I'll wear this!" He took out a bright pink hat with feathers.

Tenten giggled. "Now that's an offer I cant refuse! Let's so scare the neighbors."

Neji pulled the front door shut behind them and walked across the lawn, kicking up the snow as they went. For several minutes, neither of them spoke. The snow was coming down heavily. Tenten stuck out her tongue and tried to catch a snowflake while Neji was trying to make as many footprints as he could in the snow.

"Maybewe should have called Sakura and Sasuke," Tenten said to break the silence.

"If Sasuke knew Sakura is coming, he probably wouldn't want to come over. I think he's secretly spending his night mooning over Sakura."

"Jeez, both of them… Why doesn't he ask her out already? Sakura already made the first move, you know?" asked Tenten. "What's he thinking anyway?" she added.

"He said that he didn't want to tie himself down and break the hearts of a million girls. But my guess is he's scared to admit he likes her and afraid that she will make a fool out of him and reject him in front of everyone."

"Sakura's not like that. I can see that she really likes him." Said Tenten. "Sasuke should do something about that before he regrets it."

"Would you rather be with Itachi?" Neji asked suddenly.

Tenten didn't answer right away. In the last hour and a half, She had completely took her mind of Itachi and how he broke the date. Being with Neji seemed like the perfect way to enjoy the snow and the festive feeling in the air.

"No, I'm glad to be with you," Tenten said finally. "Why? Are you pining away for Ino?"

Neji scooped up a handful of snow and packed it into a ball. "Nah, Ino's not much fun to throw snowballs at!"

As Neji's snowball hit Tenten squarely in the face, she squealed loudly and knelt down to scoop as much snow as she could and ran over to where Neji was. She dumped all the snow down his back.

He screamed and shouted, "This calls for war!"

For the next twenty minutes or so, they acted like complete lunatics, throwing snowballs and tackling each other to the ground. Tenten was laughing so hard that her stomach ached. Finally, they collapsed next to each other on the ground.

"That felt good but I think its time to seek shelter." Said Tenten.

"First, let's make snow angel," Neji suggested. "I haven't done this for years." Neji lay back and started flapping his arms and legs.

Tenten followed suit and they both stood up to inspect the results.

"Not bad!"

"Yeah, not bad at all!" Neji agreed. "Now let's seek shelter. We need some hot chocolate!"

Minutes later, Neji and Tenten were both back at Tenten's house and changing into warm clothes. Everyone else was asleep and they tiptoed to the den with their hot chocolate. Out of nowhere, Neji let out a deep sigh.

"What was that for?" Tenten asked.

"I don't know. I was just thinking that tonight really is the perfect night for romance."

Tenten stared into the fire and wondered if Itachi and Mia were somewhere else snuggling in each other's arms. "Yeah, I get what you mean."

When Neji turned to her, his eyes looked almost white. He inched close to her on the couch. Tenten's heart started beating quickly and she felt the same confused emotions that she had experienced during the homecoming dance.

"You know that song?" he asked quietly.

Tenten shook her head, unable to tear her eyes away from his. "What song?"

"If you cant be with the one you love…"

"Love the one you're with," Tenten finished. Her gaze dropped to Neji's red lips and she felt mesmerized by his closeness.

Neji put one hand behind her head and gently pulled her closer. Tenten closed her eyes, willing to let his lips touch hers. As soon as she felt his kiss, a liquid fire spread through her. Without thinking, she clutched at the fabric of his shirt, not wanting to let him go. The fireworks she had been hoping with Itachi finally went off in her head. She felt alive and burning.

A moment later, Neji pulled away. As soon as the kiss was over, Tenten felt a wave of humiliation swept over her. Had she done that? Had she just kissed Neji, her best friend in the whole world? A million questions raced through her head and she was speechless.

"Wow, I don't know if that was such a good idea." Neji said, raking his fingers through his hair.

Tenten was quickly replaced with anger. "Why did you do that!" she hissed.

"What do you mean me? You were here too."

Tenten balled her hands into a fist. "It was your idea! Don't deny it!" Tenten was trying to keep her voice down but she felt like screaming.

Neji glared at her. "Well, this was obviously a very, very bad idea."

"You just can't stand the fact that there's one girl in this place who doesn't want to go out with you!"

"Don't flatter yourself Tenten. It'll never happen again."

"Good!" Tenten crossed her arms.

"Good!" Neji said, standing up. "Tell your dad thanks for the clothes, I'll return them as soon as possible."

Neji walked towards the front hall. "And give your grandparents my regard," he said.

Then he stepped out into the snowy night and Tenten slammed the door behind him. She didn't care if she woke up the whole house. The day was the worst day in her life and all she wanted to do now was to curl up in bed and cry herself to sleep.

As she stumbled into her room, the tears she had been holding fell freely down her cheeks. Once again, she had gone and made a big fat mistake of her life.

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Thanks to everyone who read and review! I appreciate that! Sorry for the lack of Sasu/Saku in this chapter. I will make it up probably next chapter or the one after next. 


	10. Chapter 9

**More than Friends**

_Summary: Tenten's out to find true love. Tired of hearing her best friend, Hyuga Neji, talk about how easy it is to get a girl. Tenten says she can find someone special before he ever could. Neji doesn't know the first thing about love--all he knows about are hormones. But after weeks of dating misery, both are ready to accept defeat...until Neji suggests they date each other. Do friends really make better partners? Pairings: Nejiten and Sasu/Saku_

_Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto._

_Rated: PG_

**

* * *

Chapter 9 **

When Neji opened his eyes on Friday morning, he knew that there was something wrong. It took him a few minutes to piece together the disastrous events of the previous night. Then he remembered. He Kissed Tenten. He groaned and knocked his head lightly against the wall. What had made him kiss her? He had broken the rule of a platonic friendship and now Tenten hated him. There was also the matter of Ino. Technically, he had cheated on her. Even thought kissing Tenten was a moment of temporary insanity, there was no denying that the kiss had taken place, not that Ino would ever find out.

Another question bothered Neji. If Ino knew about the kiss, would she even care? Her pride would be hurt but would she be truly upset or just plain angry? She told Neji that she would call him but he hadn't heard from her yet. Neji sighed and shifted his thoughts back to the Tenten problem. How was he going to face her now? Before he could start thinking of how to salvage their friendship, there was a knock on the door.

"Neji, are you awake?" his dad called, opening the door slightly.

"Yeah." Neji replied groggily and rolled on his back, hoping that he would take the hint and go away.

"Tenten's downstairs."

"She is?" Upon hearing her name, he quickly sat up and jumped off his bed. "Give me a minute, and then send her up."

Neji hopped around his room, trying to get dressed and comb his hair at the same time. The door opened as he was buttoning his shirt and Tenten stuck her head in the room.

"Can you give your ex - best friend a moment of your time?" she asked.

The sick feeling Neji had since he woke up instantly disappeared. Tenten's voice sounded friendly; everything would be okay.

"Only if you'll delete the "ex" from that question." He answered and opened the door.

"I bought a peace offering." Tenten said. She handed him a box of doughnuts and sat down at the end of his bed.

"You know, I woke up this morning craving for doughnuts and here you are."

"I know you too well Hyuga." She replied. "I didn't get much sleep last night." She added.

"Me neither." Said Neji as he grabbed a doughnut from the box and held out the box for Tenten.

She took a piece and said, "We can't let this ruin out friendship. We bothe overreacted."

"I couldn't agree more." Said Neji.

In the light of the day, the whole incident didn't seem like such a big deal. It was just a kiss and it wasn't like it was the end of the world. After all, there were teenagers and teenagers kiss all the time. It wasn't as if they had committed murder of something. Tenten chewed thoughtfully for a moment.

"I mean, if we actually enjoy kissing each other, then we might have a problem. Here we are, two friends of the opposite sex. Its just natural that we would have a certain amount of uh..curiosity about each other. Yup, and now that we have the kiss out of the way and forgotten, we know we never want to kiss each other again and we won't. End of story."

Neji was a little upset that she could dismiss his kiss so easily. For him, the experience had been like shooting though space. He couldn't deny the fact that she had excited him to a dangerous level. Nevertheless, he wasn't about to argue with her and ruin their friendship. He just wanted to make up and move on.

"Yup, end of story." Neji confirmed as he stuck out his hand and Tenten shook it firmly.

"Glad that is resolved. I'm sure we'll both sleep better tonight."

Neji gave her a smile and said, "Yeah, absolutely Tenten." Neji leaned back against his pillow and thought that his world wasn't going to collapse after all and he was grateful for that.

Neji had butterflies in his stomach as he drove to Ino's house on Sunday evening. Ino had finally called him and now he was just minutes away from seeing her beautiful face. He had been thrilled to hear her voice because he felt as if they were going to have a brand new start. Since the whole kissing episode with Tenten, Neji had realized how much he missed Ino, definitely more than he thought he would. Obviously, he had projected those feelings onto Tenten, who in turn had projected her feelings for Itachi on him. Yup, that was what happened, Neji thought. The temperature was currently below freezing point and when Ino suggested they go ice skating at Ormandy Park; Neji thought the idea was great. He started to imagine the two of them holding hands and circling the pond. Afterward, they would go to her house, drink hot chocolate and kiss far into the night. He couldn't wait!

When Neji arrived at her house, Ino opened the door immediately and twirled around.

"How do you like my new skating outfit?" she asked.

"Wow!" was all Neji could say.

Ino looked stunning in a short pink skating dress. Her long legs were covered with flesh colored tights, and she was holding her white skates on one hand. To be honest, Neji didn't think that Ino would be outfitted for ice skating. He usually just wore jeans and a sweater but he wasn't about to complain, she looked like an Olympic athlete turned supermodel.

"Let's go! Everyone else would be there soon!" Ino said as she grabbed Neji towards his car.

Neji didn't know what she meant by everyone and he was still speechless from the aftermath of her dress. If he opened his mouth now, whatever came out of it would probably be s squeak.

The parking lot was half full and Neji recognized a few of the cars that were already there. Suddenly, he had a sinking feeling who Ino meant by everybody.

"The whole gang is here!" Ino cried happily as they made their way to the crowded pond.

"You didn't tell me that half of Konoha High was going skating tonight," Neji said, a little more sharply then he had intended.

"Isn't that great? I'm so excited to see everybody!" exclaimed Ino and she ran ahead of Neji, disappearing behind the crowd of people.

A few seconds later, Neji could hear Ino squeal and when she came into view; he saw that she was hugging Alice Springs and Amanda Carlson. Neji frowned as he thought those two girls were the most superficial and stupid and best at backstabbing and manipulating people. Ino dragged Neji towards to pond where he pulled his skates out of the bag he was carrying. At that moment, he saw Josh Mayor, Eric Shields and Jeremy Shonberg. His dreams of having a romantic evening with Ino was all dashed. Neji's opinion of Josh had not improved since the homecoming dance and he absolutely hated Jeremy Shonberg!

Jeremy had a thing for Tenten during their sophomore year of high school. She went out with him once, detested him and never wanted to speak to him again. And Jeremy had been a totally cruel jerk to Tenten at school. When Tenten didn't respond to his baiting, Jeremy wrote graffiti about her on the walls of the guy's locker room. Neji caught him in the act one day and it led to the only fistfight he ever had. After they were pulled apart, Neji swore never to punch anyone again. The next year, Jeremy switched schools when his parents moved to another district and Neji had been able to avoid him ever since. Tenten, by the way, never found out about the fight.

Neji started to put on his skates and hoped that after one and a half years, Jeremy had probably evolved into a human being. As long as he was nice to him, he wouldn't create an ugly scene. Ino had already started skating and Neji joined her a minute later.

"This is so romantic." Giggled Ino as Neji held her hands.

"That's because you're here." Answered Neji. Neji did a quick stop when he saw Jeremy Shonberg out of the corner of his eye. He was headed straight for them and he was sneering. Neji gritted his teeth and forced himself to look friendly.

"Hey Jeremy, do you know Ino?" Neji asked.

Jeremy looked at Ino from head to toe and he gave her a sexy smile. "Only now, nice to meet you Ino."

Ino gave him a flirtatious smile. "How come I haven't met you before?"

"I go to Rosedale High. But I like to keep in touch with my old friends." Jeremy said as he looked at Neji. Neji could tell that Jeremy was dying to tell him something. He ignored that and grabbed Ino's hands and started to leave.

Jeremy put his hand on Neji's shoulder, stopping him. "Speaking of old friends, Josh told me that out mutual sweetheart Tenten is going out with Uchiha Itachi."

Neji saw Ino narrowed her eyes but he couldn't blame her. Jeremy made it sound as if Tenten and himself were an item. Neji decided to explain to Ino later on.

"Yup, and they are very much in love." Neji said, satisfied to see his sneer turn into a frown.

"Is that so? Well, you might want to pass a message from me to her."

"What's that?" Neji could feel his muscles tensed up but he didn't want to show Jeremy that he was getting to him.

"I saw Itachi and Mia looking very friendly at Sam's Pizzeria on Thanksgiving night. In fact, they were making out in a corner." Jeremy grinned at Neji and sniggered.

"You're lying."

"I don't care if you don't believe me Hyuga. But you should really tell Tenten that Uchiha was just using her until he could get his hands on Mia again."

Neji was trembling with anger and he couldn't stop himself from taking a step close to Jeremy. He was determined to wipe that smile off his face.

"You're just jealous because Tenten wouldn't go out with your pathetic self!" Neji said angrily.

"Tenten's a loser and a geek! Ask anyone!" retorted Jeremy.

Then Ino spoke up, "You know, he does have a point Neji. Everyone knows that Tenten is sort of…strage."

"Thanks for you opinion Ino, but just shut up. This is between me and Jeremy."

"Want to fight Hyuga?" Jeremy asked.

"You're not worth it, bastard." Neji snapped.

While Neji was looking away, Jeremy took the opportunity. Out of no where, Jeremy's fist hit Neji squarely on his chin and Neji fell backwards with a groan.

"Tenten is the coolest woman I ever know and she puts any girlfriend you could get to shame!" shouted Neji.

As Neji tried to stand up, Jeremy lunged himself at him again. But before he could punch Neji, Josh and Eric grabbed him and pulled him several feet back.

"I think this skating party is over," Josh said as he and Eric dragged Jeremy off the ice.

Neji stood up, feeling furious. As he turned to look at Ino, she saw that Ino was glaring at him with her hands on her hips.

"If you like Tenten so much, maybe you should go out with her!" Ino yelled. "You two deserve each other."

Neji was shocked at her words. Before he could say anything, Ino gave him a cold smile and said, "We are through, Hyuga."

Neji watched Ino skate away and hurried towards Jeremy. Neji stared at her back until he couldn't see her anymore. He sank back onto the ice, too tired to move. He was hurt that Ino had broken up with him but deep down inside, he already knew that this relationship would never work out. She had more in common with Alice and Amanda then he ever wanted to admit. Now, he could finally see how superficial she was.

Cold wind whistled in his ears and the night was silent. Neji gazed around the now empty pond, shaking his head and said to himself, "I guess this means I lost the bet…"

On Monday morning, when Sakura and Tenten walked into creative writing class, Tenten's palms were all sweaty and she was feeling queasy. She had not talked to Itachi since Thanksgiving night and she had spent the whole of Sunday explaining to herself why he hadn't called her. Maybe his grandparents wanted to spend time with him or maybe he had a gig somewhere and he had to practice. Or maybe he had to shovel the snow in his driveway. Still, Tenten felt pessimistic at the thought of seeing him. She almost expected him to wear a sign saying "I spent the whole weekend making out with Mia".

Sakura could see that something was bothering her friend.

"I'm sure he's just busy." She said soothingly. "Mia is nothing. She's all style and no substance."

"Oh, I feel so much better now," replied Tenten wryly. "Everyone knows that guys prefer style to substance. What planet are you on anyway?"

"Hey at least I'm looking at the bright side." Said Sakura.

"There is no bright side," Tenten replied glumly.

"Hey at least you're in better state than I am." Said Sakura dejectedly.

Tenten looked at Sakura, waiting for her to continue.

"He hasn't talked to me at all since that night. I guess I meant nothing to him."

Tenten could see Sakura's eyes glistening with tears.

"Aww, come on, think on the bright side! That's what you said, isn't it? Maybe he's too busy or maybe he's just afraid." Said Tenten gently as she put her arms around Sakura's shoulders.

"Afraid? Afraid of what? I took the first move; shouldn't he do something if he likes me too? I'm a girl you know, I don't want to be the one making the move all the time. I feel like I'm no different from the other silly girls."

"He probably needs time...erm..to sort out his feelings?"

"You know what? I changed my mind. Forget it. I don't want to sit here and pine for him any longer. I'm no different from his fan girls. Gosh, why did I say those things to him that night! I know he doesn't like me, end of story. I gotta move on. There are plenty of other guys out there who are better than him."

"Sakura…" Tenten started but Sakura broke her off.

"I should find another guy and forget about that jerk. Since he doesn't want to make peace with me, I should just forget him and return to being his enemy since he hates me so much."

"But he…"

"And I think I know who my target is."

"If you're talking about Lee …"

"No, please! Not Lee. He…he's a nice guy but…nah, not Lee. I was thinking about Neji, after all, he is my crush for 3 years…"

Tenten almost choked. "What? But he just broke up with Ino!"

"Hey they broke up. So I have a chance now!" said Sakura with determination in her eyes. She had to show that jerk!

"But…I…He..."

"You're not in love with Neji, are you?" asked Sakura.

"W..what are you talking about? Of course n..not! I've told you a million times already. We're FRIENDS!"

"Ok, that's good then…" replied Sakura.

Just then, Sasuke walked pass. He glance at Sakura and then looked away immediately when she looked back.

"Hey Ice block, don't get in my way!"

Tenten looked at Sakura and then at Sasuke. Sasuke looked confused as he stared at Sakura. Sakura glared back.

"I said get out of the way, idiot!"

Sasuke's confusion turned into anger.

"Why, you change pretty fast! First you said you liked me and you want to be my friend and now you hate me again? Was that night just a joke?" asked Sasuke furiously.

"YEAH, it was a joke! I was just playing you, you fool!"

"Sakura…." Said Tenten.

"Stay out of this Tenten! You know what; you're the biggest jerk I've ever known in my life! How can I possibly fall for a bastard like you? Use your stupid brains!"

"Oh Yeah Miss Know It All! You're a big fat liar and the worst person I've ever known in my life!" said Sasuke, his anger rising.

"That's enough you guys! Stop it!" yelled Tenten. "Both of you like each other so why don't you guys just admit it!"

"AS IF!" yelled Sakura and Sasuke and then they both stormed off in opposite directions.

"Oh man…this is getting ugly…" muttered Tenten as she ran after Sakura. Sakura ran pretty fast and Tenten couldn't keep up. Finally, she lost track of Sakura. Tenten started to hunt for her in the locker rooms and finally found her at one of the toilets. Sakura had locked herself up in a cubicle and was sobbing her heart out.

"Sakura…Why did you do that?" Tenten asked.

"I don't know..I really don't know what got over me. Sorry Tenten, I just want to be alone right now. Could you tell Mr Finn that I'm sick?"

"But…"

"I'll be fine Tenten. Don't worry about me. Hurry, you'll be late for class."

"Ok…cheer up ok?" Tenten said as she left for class.

After class, Tenten rushed back to the toilet to look for Sakura but she wasn't there anymore. So she went to her lockers to get her books out for the next class. When she opened her locker, she found a note addressed to her. She opened the note and it said, "Tenten, meet me right after school. Love, Itachi."

Tenten's hear soared. Maybe Itachi really did had a good reason for not calling her. All she could do now is hope for the best.

Later after school…

"I can't talk long," Tenten said to Itachi, pulling shut the passenger- side door if his convertible. "I have to tutor this junior in half an hours time."

In a black sweater and dark blue jeans, Itachi looked as handsome as usual and his eyes were bright.

_"He's happy to see me! Finally everything will be back to normal."_ Tenten thought to herself.

"I'm sorry I didn't call you this weekend," he said quietly.

"Oh that's ok; I was really busy with my grandparents anyway."

"Yeah I was pretty busy too…" said Itachi.

Tenten decided to ask him about his old girlfriend. She had to ask once and for all and this would be the time. She had no reason to be jealous if it was all in the past.

"So, did you get to meet Mia this weekend?" Tenten asked casually. "I heard she was in town."

Itachi bit his lip and stared at his steering wheel.

"Uhh.. yeah. That's actually why I was so busy."

"Oh…" There was nothing more Tenten could say. The combination of guilt and excitement in his voice had told her everything she needed to know. Tenten just sat in silence waiting for him to say something.

"She didn't meet anyone at school and she really missed me….I guess I missed her too."

"Oh." Tenten said again, tears threatening to spill out of her eyes and she blinked rapidly. She wasn't about to let Itachi see how humiliated and hurt she was.

"We're going to try out a long distance relationship," he continued. "It's not that I don't love you Tenten…I think you're a really great girl. But Mia and I…we're fated to be together."

Tenten swallowed hard and sat up straight. "I think that's wonderful Itachi." She said. Amazingly, her voice sounded smooth and pleasant.

'It is?" Itachi asked sounding surprised.

"Yes, because there's something I wanted to tell you too."

"There is?" Itachi asked again.

"Yeah, this weekend, Neji and I realized that we're in love." She lied. Even as she was saying the words, she didn't believe that they were coming out from her lips. _"Sorry Neji,"_ Tenten thought silently.

"Oh…" said Itachi.

Tenten felt a bit of satisfaction that Itachi seemed slightly off balance.

"Isn't this the funniest coincidence? We're both so lucky that we didn't have to hurt the other person." Said Tenten, trying to sound as happy as possible.

"Yeah," Itachi said, sounding confused.

"Well, I guess I'll see you around." Tenten said and she leaned over and gave him a kiss on the cheek. Then she opened the door and got out of the car.

"Bye Tenten."

"Bye Itachi." Tenten replied, slamming the door behind her. It wasn't until Itachi pulled out of the parking lot that Tenten's knees buckled and she fell to the ground, sobbing.

* * *

Thanks to all my reviewers and readers once again! You guys are the best! Wow, 2 break ups in one chapter…hehe. Poor Tenten and Neji. Next chapter: Sasuke jealousy, more Neji/Ten tension. Sasuke and Sakura will get together soon! See ya then! 


	11. Chapter 10

**More than Friends**

_Summary: Tenten's out to find true love. Tired of hearing her best friend, Hyuga Neji, talk about how easy it is to get a girl. Tenten says she can find someone special before he ever could. Neji doesn't know the first thing about love--all he knows about are hormones. But after weeks of dating misery, both are ready to accept defeat...until Neji suggests they date each other. Do friends really make better partners? Pairings: Nejiten and Sasu/Saku_

_Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto._

_Rated: PG_

**

* * *

Chapter 10 **

Tenten stood on the Hyuga's front door, shivering with cold. She had been in such a rush that she had forgotten to grab her coat.

"Tenten!" The second Neji saw her, he enveloped her in a huge hug. "I'm sorry." He whispered into her ear.

Tenten wiped her tears on the sleeve of his sweater and looked up into his face. "How did you know?"

"From the expression on your face, I could tell that either someone in your family had died or you and Itachi had broken up. And since your mom sounded fine when I just talked to her on the phone, I made a guess."

Tenten covered her face with her hands and threw herself on the Hyuga's living room sofa. "I feel terrible!"

"I know how you feel." Said Neji as he sat down on the sofa and started to pat her back awkwardly.

Tenten sniffled. "How do you know how I feel?"

"Ino dumped me on Sunday, remember?" Neji said, his voice neutral.

"Oh yeah, sorry to remind you about that." Tenten replied. "I never liked her anyway," she added. Tenten sympathized with Neji but she wouldn't miss having to play nice with Queen Ino.

"And I never liked Itachi."

"Speaking of Itachi, I told him something really stupid." Confessed Tenten.

"What?" he asked.

"Promise you wont get mad."

"What? Tell me." Neji said impatiently.

Tenten didn't want him to get anymore irritated before she spilled her guts so she answered his quickly.

"Well, when Itachi told me that he and Mia were getting back together, I was kind of humiliated…"

"And?"

"And so to save my face, I told him that you and I were in love," Tenten said while staring at the coffee table, waiting for his burst of anger. However, to her surprise, Neji laughed.

"Who cares," he said.

"Really?"

"Yeah, people are always saying that we're in love. In a week or two, we'll just announce that we decided we were better off friends."

For the first time since Itachi broke up with Tenten, she smiled and said, "Yeah, that's right! What we do is no one's business anyway!"

Neji nodded. "I can't wait to see the look on Ino's face! It will be a real Kodak moment!"

Thursday morning at school…

Neji saw Ino flirting with Josh in the hall and he didn't feel anything, well maybe just pity for Josh. Actually, he felt a little hurt come to think about it again.

"Did I mean anything to her at all?" Neji asked Sasuke who walk beside him. However, he didn't seem to have heard his question.

"Hey, Uchiha, you looked like you're the one who got dumped."

Sasuke jerk his head when he heard Neji speaking. "Yeah, maybe I just lost a girlfriend…" he mumbled

"What did you say?"

"Nothing."

"Uh….do you mind me asking what is going on now between you and Sakura?" Neji asked Sasuke quietly.

"She hates me."

"I thought she likes you?"

"We'll never ever be together."

"Why?"

"Because she's a big liar and an idiot."

"But you like her don't you? Why don't you try?"

"No, I won't." Sasuke said simply. "I always act like an idiot when she's around. She'll just laugh at me and humiliate me my whole life. And then I can never show my face in Konoha High anymore."

"Oh, come on, Please just Drop your pride and just tell her you like her!" exclaimed Neji.

"I can't…She doesn't like my anymore. Forget it, I won't die without her. There are plenty of other girls who are more beautiful and gentler."

"_Yeah, but they are all nothing. The one you want is Sakura…Maybe I should help him…"_ thought Neji to himself.

"Why are we talking about me all of a sudden? You were talking about Ino." Said Sasuke.

Neji sighed and thought about Ino again. He didn't mean anything to her. Then again, did she mean anything to him? Maybe Tenten was right, he knew nothing about love. But who does?

Friday night, Tenten and Neji were drowning their sorrows in a banana split at Swenson's. Sasuke was with them but he wasn't saying much. He was just staring at his ice cream. The three of them were a pretty gloomy bunch.

"You know what your problem is Tenten?" Neji asked.

"Yeah, the fact that you always ask me what my problem is."

"Wrong again. You problem is that you fall in love too easily."

"Oh yeah? This is coming from the man who made a bet with me to dare me to fall in love? What a hypocrite."

"I'm older and wiser now. And I've decided that love is off limits for now." Neji replied.

Tenten tapped her spoon thoughtfully against the bowl of banana split and said,"I think I have a suggestion that will make even your jaded self say yes to love again."

"Try me."

"You should ask Sakura out." Tenten sat back, looking pleased with herself.

"Haruno Sakura?" Neji asked, surprised. He took a glance at Sasuke.

Sasuke jerked his gaze from his bowl of ice cream when he heard Sakura's name. Now he was staring at Tenten with narrowed eyes.

"Of course Haruno Sakura. She's pretty, intelligent and a hundred times cooler than any other girl you've dated."

"But She and Sasu…" Neji looked at Sasuke.

"Why are you looking at me? She has nothing to do with me." Muttered Sasuke angrily.

"If she meant nothing, why are you angry?" asked Tenten.

"That's because you guys think that I like her." He scowled.

"Ermm.. Nah, I think I'll stay on my own, thank you very much." Neji said. He knew that Sakura always carried a small torch for him but he had never even considered asking her out. She is Tenten's best friend and going out with her was just too bizarre. Besides, Sasuke and her and in a sticky love web right now.

To Neji and Tenten's surprise, Sasuke suddenly said, "I agree with Tenten. What do you have to lose?"

Neji stared at him.

"What?"

"I don't want to die in your hands." said Neji.

"I'm dating someone else now, and for the hundredth time, I do not like Sakura."

"Yeah right, someone was just telling me that he likes her the other day but didn't dare to admit it to her."

Sasuke blushed a little but he was determined not to let them catch him.

"No I don't like her Neji. I was just talking nonsense the other day because I didn't get enough sleep the night before. Think whatever you want Neji. Just take Tenten's advice and go out with Sakura." He stood up and left some money on the table. "Catch you guys later."

When he exited the place into the cold, dark, night, Sasuke stopped and closed his eyes. He exhaled deeply and couldn't get that sinking feeling off his heart. "Sakura…" he whispered.

After Sasuke was gone, Tenten put down her spoon and said, "Don't say I didn't try. If you die grey, old and lonely, just remember that Tenten tried to help."

"I'll think about it. But right now, I just want to forget Yamanaka Ino ever existed."

"Yeah, me too…Forget Itachi."

"How about we check out what's the late night show today?"

"Good idea." Replied Tenten.

Tenten got up and gathered her coat and hat from the seat. As Neji helped her slip into her parka, she caught a glimpse of them in the old fashioned mirror that hung on the wall next to their booth. They were both smiling and Tenten noticed that they looked like every other pair in Swenson's. People who didn't know them would have thought that they were the ultimate high school couple, young and in love.

Two hours later, Tenten turned off the television in her den. They had just watched Love Struck and Tenten had that dreamy expression on her face that Neji had seen many times before. Tenten has always been a sucker for romance.

"Do you think any guy could love me as much as Jimmy Rice loved Lisa Frasier in that movie?" she asked.

"That's a dumb question." Neji answered.

"Why? Because you think there's no way a guy could ever love me that much?" Tenten asked, her voice sad.

Tenten was stretched out on the sofa and her calves and feel were resting on Neji's lap. When Neji glanced over at her face, he saw that the dreamy expression had been replaced with one of gloom.

"No, Tenten. Because I am positive that there are a thousand guys who could and will love you as much as Jimmy loved Lisa."

Tenten smiled. "Really? Do you mean that?"

"Tenten, you're the most awesome chick at Konoha High. I mean in the whole world. Any guy would be crazy not to fall in love with you."

Tenten sat up, then reached out and put her arms around Neji. Neji returned the hug, relieved to see her smiling again.

"I'm so glad you're my best friend." She said, her voice muffled against Neji's shirt.

"Not half as glad as I am," Neji replied. He squeezed her shoulders and hugged her even tighter.

"I love you" Tenten said.

"I love you too, always."

Tenten and Neji used the L word fairly often. Both of them knew that there was a parenthetical "as a friend" attached to the end of the sentence, so they never bothered saying it. But that night the words seemed even truer than it had in the past. Neji assumed that it was because both of them had just been through rough times and they realized more than ever how much they replied on each other's enduring friendship.

Tenten tilted her head up and gave Neji a friendly kiss on the cheek. Neji responded by giving her a kiss on her cheek too. Then Tenten gave him a kiss on the other side of his cheek and Neji did the same. They kept doing that until they have exchanged about twenty kisses. Finally when it was Neji's turn to kiss her cheek, his lips accidentally-on-purpose landed on her mouth. Rather then turn away quickly; he gave her a light peck on the lips, which she returned. Suddenly, Neji found himself kissing her again, wanting more and more.

Tenten responded, parting her warm lips beneath Neji's. Neji's fingers were tangled in her hair and her hands clutched the material of his shirt. Neji lost track of time, suspended in the burning, electric sensations that spread throughout his body. He felt like they were one person, two halves of a whole.

With a start, Tenten pulled away. She sat upright and then collapse onto the floor next to the fireplace. Without warning, she burst into tears and covered her face with her hands and wept quietly.

A feeling of helplessness engulfed Neji and he patted her awkwardly on the back, trying to comfort her.

After a minute or so, Tenten started talking. "With…Itachi…Kiss….Never…I don't…"

Neji could only decipher about one out of every ten words but it didn't take a genius to figure out that she was upset about Itachi. It was clear than kissing him reminded her of the guy she really loved had left her.

"Tenten, don't worry, everything's going to be fine." Neji said. But he didn't know if that was going to be true.

"It is?" Tenten asked through her tears, looking up at him.

Neji nodded firmly. "We're just upset about our breakups, and that's why we're turning to each other. I promise nothing is going to change between us."

"You're right. I'm just upset about Itachi that's all." Tenten said as she wiped away her tears.

Tenten seemed to have recovered and Neji was glad, although he realized that he was taken aback that all she could think was that loser and Neji, for once had thought that their kisses had been explosive. Still, he played his best friend role like an Oscar winning actor.

"We're friends, just like always." Neji said.

Tenten smiled brightly at Neji. Then she looked down and said, "I'm just upset about Itachi…yeah…"

All of a sudden, Neji had a strong desire to get away from Tenten and her whining about Itachi, where he could think properly.

"Well, I guess we both lost the bet." Neji said, trying to close the conversation.

"Yeah.."

On the way home that night, Neji couldn't get his mind off Tenten's wails about Itachi. He wondered what she saw in that guy aside from his male model face. By the time Neji was lying in bed, one fact had became crystallized in his mind: he was extremely irritated by Tenten's pining over that loser. Staring up at his ceiling, he thought of all the girls he had kissed. He thought of Ino and she was the only who made the move to end the relationship. But he was sure that Ino just dumped him out of pride and she would take him back if he asked her to. She was giving him flirtatious looks all week during classes. But he didn't want to get back with Ino. He wanted to show Tenten how many girls would die to be in her shoes that night. And none of them would have burst into tears after he had kissed them.

Neji sat up and punched his pillow. He needed to quit mooning around and take action. He had too much time on his hands that he was now obsessing over Tenten's obsession with Utachi. As soon as he asked another girl out, everything would go back to normal. Neji suddenly remembered that Tenten had suggested he ask Sakura for a date. He didn't want to ask her but since Tenten seemed so keen on the whole idea, maybe he could try it if nothing else could prove to Tenten that he was moving on with his life when she was still pining over that loser. And she did not have to worry about getting more kisses from him. In addition, maybe Sasuke would get his ass up and ask Sakura out when he sees them together. Neji smirked. He closed his eyes and finally fell asleep. First thing in the morning, he would call Sakura.

Tenten spent most of Saturday morning wandering aimlessly around the house. Her parents were out and the house was deathly quiet. At noon, she finally got tired of doing nothing and she sat down at her computer to work on her writing assignment. But her fingers just hovered above the keyboard as she couldn't get her mind off the events that happened yesterday night.

When the doorbell rang, Tenten raced downstairs. At that point, she was happy to chat with anyone who came, even if it's a salesman. Anything to keep her occupied. Her mood immediately brightened when she saw Sakura's car parked out at the front. She decided she would tell her what happened yesterday night.

"I've got some new that's going to blow you away," Sakura said as soon as Tenten opened the door.

"We're invaded by aliens from outer space?" Tenten responded.

"Aliens are nothing compared to what happened to me this morning."

The girls walked into the kitchen and Tenten got two cokes from the refrigerator. "Well, don't keep me in suspense. Tell me everything!"

"I was reading the newspaper this morning, just minding my own business. I mean, I was expecting nothing to happen today."

"Oh, get to the point! I cant wait!" interrupted Tenten.

"Neji called me and asked me out. Tonight."

Tenten coughed, choking on her coke. "You're kidding?"

Sakura shook her head. "Nope, we're going for dinner."

"Wow…" Tenten felt like she had been punched.

Sakura looked up at her. "You don't mind do you? I mean, I figured you put a good word for me after our talk the other day and…"

Tenten forced a smile onto her face. "I don't care, I'm just surprised he didn't mention it, that's all."

"You look sort of green…" said Sakura.

"Hey, I always thought you two would make a great couple if you aren't with Sasu…" Tenten stopped when she saw the look on Sakura's face. "Erm..I mean, yeah You and Neji would make an awesome pair. I'm so overcome with joy that I'm speechless."

Sakura forced herself to grin. "Ok, I'll take your word for it. So, can I borrow something to wear?"

"Of course. We'll make you up and when Neji sees you, Ino will be just a dim memory.

Despite her words, Tenten felt hollow. It was true that it had been her idea for Neji to ask Sakura out. But she somehow thought he wouldn't agree to go through it. And Sakura….She thought that she was just joking when she said she was going to forget Sasuke and go for Neji…One thing was definite thought. Tenten couldn't tell Sakura about her kiss with Neji. There was no way she was going to let them know she was getting upset to see them going out.

"Let's start now. We don't have a minute to waste." Said Tenten.

"Thanks Tenten, I always knew that I could count on you to give me moral support." Sakura said as she hugged her.

Once they were in Tenten's room, Tenten started to rummage her closet and found a green baby doll dress she kept for special occasions. "Here, try this."

Tenten stretched out on her bed she she watched Sakura undress.

"How does this look?" Sakura asked a minute later.

"Wonderful." Sakura looked nicer with that dress then it did on Tenten. "In fact, you can have it. The cut looks better on you."

Sakura twirled in front of the mirror. "Do you think Neji would like it?"

"Definitely."

"You know, I'm sort of nervous." Said Sakura.

"Don't be, you're a million times better than any girl Neji had dated before."

Suddenly, Sakura sat up straight. "Hey, you know Neji better than anyone else. Why don't you tell me how can I get him to like me?"

Tenten closed a eyes and started thinking. How could she put everything she knew about Neji into a few meaningful phrases? She took a deep breathe and then opened her mouth.

"He hates onions on his hamburgers. Don't tell him you think you're fat. He doesn't care. He likes impersonations. If you cant tell who he's trying to imitate, assume it's Elvis Presley. When a little muscle next to his eye twitches, he's trying not to show that he's angry…"

Now that she had started, she couldn't stop. Sakura was sitting in silence. She seemed to be listening, so Tenten continued.

"Green is his favourite color. He's a fan of disco music. He hates girls who are superficial. He'd rather die then work in a law office. He's funniest when…"

"Tenten, are you alright?" Sakura asked suddenly, signaling her to stop.

Tenten realized that she had almost forgotten that Sakura was there. "What? Oh sorry, I guess that was too much information."

Sakura was staring at her fingernails and biting her lip. "You're in love with Neji, aren't you?"

"What?" Tenten gasped.

"You heard me. I think you're in love with Hyuga Neji."

"That's the stupidest thing I've ever heard. Don't be ridiculous." Said Tenten loudly.

"Tenten, it's the way you're talking about him. It's like…"

"I am not in love with Neji and That is FINAL." She asserted.

"If you're sure…"

"Sure, of course I'm sure. Now take that dress and go get ready. I have to go somewhere."

Minutes later, Tenten closed the front door softly behind Sakura. She stood motionless in the hall, listening to the silence of the empty house. She was not in love with Neji, she told herself. As the words echoed in her mine, she almost believed they were true.

* * *

Hey everyone, I think there will be 2 more chapters left. Glad you guys like my story so far. Thanks for taking time to read and review! Next chapter: The date and Sasuke and Sakura finally get together. Read on to find out what happens! And Happy Valentine's day everyone! 


	12. Chapter 11

**More than Friends**

_Summary: Tenten's out to find true love. Tired of hearing her best friend, Hyuga Neji, talk about how easy it is to get a girl. Tenten says she can find someone special before he ever could. Neji doesn't know the first thing about love--all he knows about are hormones. But after weeks of dating misery, both are ready to accept defeat...until Neji suggests they date each other. Do friends really make better partners? Pairings: Nejiten and Sasu/Saku _

_Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto._

_Rated: PG_

**Chapter 11**

Tenten was walking around the house again aimlessly on the night of Neji's and Sakura's date. She finally went to the den and grabbed a bag of chips and turned on thee television. As she bit into a chip, she told herself that she hoped Neji and Sakura were having a good time. She really, really hoped they were having the ultimate time of their lives. After an hour of watching the television, Tenten felt bored, irritated and overwhelmed with curiosity. She couldn't wait another second to find out how the date went. Checking the clock hanging on the wall, she realized that Sakura must be home. How long could a dinner take anyway?

Tenten picked up the phone and started to dial Sakura's number. Sakura's phone rang five times before her mom answered. Tenten knew that Mrs Haruno always go to bed early and her groggy and annoyed voice confirmed that. If Sakura had been home, Mrs Haruno wouldn't be answering the phone. Obviously, Sakura wasn't home yet and she and Neji were still out together. Tenten numbly set the receiver back into place. The date was probably a success and now there will be more dates. Soon, they would be holding hands and kissing and Tenten would be a fifth wheel, alone and unwanted.

There was no way that Tenten could stand having Neji confide in her about how much he liked Sakura. Their friendship simply couldn't take that much pressure. But Tenten wasn't going to stand in the way of his happiness or Sakura's. Tenten made a decision.

"I'll make a clean break. It would be the best for all of us." She said to the television set.

On the other hand with Neji and Sakura…

"Is that Tenten's dress?" Neji asked Sakura suddenly.

Sakura looked at her dress and smiled. "Yeah, she gave it to me."

"Why?" Neji knew that he wasn't being polite but he couldn't imagine why Tenten would give away her green dress. It was one of his favorites and he couldn't help noticing that the dress looked a lot better on Tenten.

"I guess she was sick of wearing it," Sakura shrugged.

"She just frustrates me so much," Neji said, as if Sakura wasn't there.

They were sitting at a table in Finnally's Pasta House, and Neji's head felt as if it were about to explode. He had made it all the way through appetizers and entrees without uttering Tenten's name, making a huge effort to be attentive and listen to Sakura talk. But by the time the waiter brought their coffee, he knew that Sakura just wasn't the girl for him. In his eyes, she was Tenten's best friend. He thought that she was a great person but whenever he looked at her, he saw Tenten. Now he was letting himself talk about what had been on his mind all day – Tenten.

"I assume we're talking about Tenten now?" Sakura asked, arching an eyebrow.

"Yeah." Replied Neji.

"I think you frustrate her too." Sakura said, her voice serious. She took a sip of coffee, waiting for Neji to say something.

"I just love her so much." Neji answered while stirring his coffee absently.

"She loves you too." Sakura said, sighing.

"Really?"

"Yes, really." Sakura paused. "And to think I actually thought I have been asked out on a date tonight. Looks like what you need now is a therapist." Sakura laughed.

All of a sudden, Neji realized what a jerk he was. He didn't want to hurt Sakura's feelings.

"Sakura, I'm sorry. I didn't mean to go on and on about Tenten. Let's talk about something else. Like, where do you want to go to college and what would you like to do in future?"

Sakura laughed again. "Neji, please. Don't even try to pretend that you're interested in where I want to go to college. To be honest, you're not that good an actor."

"I'm that bad?"

"From the second you picked me up, your mind has been like a thousand miles away." Sakura replied and she leaned back in her chair.

"I thought if we went on a date, I would forget how…" Neji wasn't sure what he was trying to say.

"You would forget that you're in love with Tenten?" Sakura asked wryly.

"No!" Neji protested quickly. "I mean, I just broke up with Ino and everything…"

"Spare me," Sakura interrupted. "You and Tenten are in love, and everyone else at Konoha High has known it for years. If you would just face up to reality and let yourselves be together, the rest of us could go on with our lives."

Neji's heart was beating furiously, and he could barely catch his breath. "Do you really think Tenten is in love with me?"

Sakura sat down her coffee with a bang. "Neji, I know she is. You should have seen her today. She was pretending she didn't care that you'd asked me out. But I could see actual tears glistening in her eyes."

"Are you telling me the truth?" Neji's mouth felt dry and he reached for his glass of ice water.

Sakura rubbed her temples. "Think about it, Neji. You know I have had a really stupid crush on you for like the last three years. Now that I'm finally on what at least started as a date with you, I realized that I can't lie to myself that you're the one for me because I'm in love with Sa…, oh never mind about that. I mean you thought that I would spend tonight saying that you and Tenten were meant to be together if I wasn't being one hundred percent honest?" Sakura finished her speech and signaled to the waiter for their check.

"I got your point…" Neji said.

"Good, now let's get out of here. I am sure you want to go home and think about Tenten."

"Sakura, please promise me that you wont tell Tenten one word of what I've said tonight." Neji requested, hoping that Sakura would agree.

"I promise." She said.

Neji let out his breath in a relieved sigh. "How can I thank you for being so cool? The sky's the limit!"

"Tell you what, you can pay for my dinner."

"Of course!" Neji answered. He would pay for her dinner anyway.

"And one more thing Neji."

"Anything."

"Never, ever ask me out on a date again." Sakura grinned.

"You know Sakura, you're all right." Neji took her hand in his and gave her a kiss on the forehead. Out of the corner of his eye, he could see a shadow lurking outside the restaurant. Neji smirked.

"Sakura, sorry about this but it's for your own good." Neji said and before Sakura could ask what he was talking about; Neji bent down and gave her a quick kiss on her lips.

All of sudden, the shadow disappeared and a very pissed off Sasuke burst into the restaurant. Neji saw him storming towards them and Sakura widening her eyes the moment she saw Sasuke.

"_The plan is going well,"_ Neji thought to himself. He had purposely told Sasuke where he was meeting Sakura that night. He knew that Sasuke would spy on their date. Neji pulled Sakura towards him and whispered into her ear.

"Sakura, he loves you a lot. Give that guy a chance. Treat it as a big favor from me please?"

Sakura blinked her eyes rapidly and she looked confused.

"Get your hands off her Hyuga! What the hell do you think you're doing?" yelled Sasuke, jealousy written all over his face. Sasuke finally couldn't take it any more.

Neji just chuckled and said, "Sasuke, there you are. My job's done here, so I'll just go and leave you two alone to…uh…settle your problem."

Sasuke narrowed his eyes at Neji and was about to say something when Neji gave him a pat on his shoulder and ran off sniggering. After Neji left, Sasuke looked at Sakura. Her back was facing him and he couldn't see her face.

"_Ok, this is it,"_ Sasuke thought to himself. _"I got to tell her how I feel. Now or never."_ He added silently.

"Sakura…" he started.

"What do you want Uchiha?" she asked coldly.

"I…just…"

"Save it."

'_Maybe I shouldn't have come._' Thought Sasuke.

"I…I…want to…." Oh God, Sasuke punched himself in his head mentally. He couldn't get the words out and he was stuttering! He, Uchiha Sasuke feeling nervous in front of a girl! But she wasn't just any girl, the thought. She was Haruno Sakura.

"If you don't want to say it, then forget it. We'll just leave it and get on with our lives." Said Sakura and she turned around and faced Sasuke. Her tears were rolling down her beautiful face and Sasuke thought she couldn't look anymore lovelier. She looked like an angel and his heart started aching when he saw her in tears.

"You don't know how I feel when I see you flirting with all those girlfriends of yours. You don't know how much I hurt when you rejected me that night. You don't know how much I hoped that you'll approach me and tell me what a girl wants to hear. You don't know me Sasuke. You don't know how much I love you. You always make me feel as though you hate me so much…" Choked Sakura.

"I'm tired of all this. There is no us. We'll have nothing to do with each other from today onwards." She added and started to walk off but Sasuke grabbed her hand and held her back and made her face him.

"You've got it wrong," he told her, regarding her with warmth in his eyes. "I don't hate you at all. About the other night, you shouldn't be the one saying sorry to me. It seems I'm the one who needs to ask YOU for forgiveness."

Sakura's eyes widened slightly as he continued, "I never really thought about your feelings before. What I said, I mean all those horrible things I said to you, I never MEANT any of it. I'm sorry I made you think I hated you."

Sakura just stared at him, looking as if she half-suspected some kind of a trick.

"I'm speaking the truth, and you want to know something else? I liked you when we first met. But you had to play a prank of me and embarrass me in front of everyone in school. From then on, to keep my pride, I decided to put my feelings aside and…well, you know the rest. I know I was a jerk. I love you Sakura. I love you so much. And I didn't think that I would be hurting you so much." he assured her sincerely. "What can I do to make it up to you? Anything you want. Just name it! I swear I'll do anything!"

He expected the immediate suggestion of asking him to go away and just leave her alone or say nothing and just walk off. But Sakura was just being Sakura, a really unpredictable girl. Therefore, he was again floored by what next came out of her mouth.

"You can…k-kiss me," she muttered shyly.

He blinked. "I can…what now?"

She blushed fiercely, looking embarrassed.

"N-never mind, it was just a joke." She laughed nervously and wiped off her tears. "B-buy me a large ice cream cone and we'll call it even."

Sakura took three steps backward, and that was as far as she got, because her hand was still in his grasp. She tugged insistently. He refused to let go. And suddenly he was looming over her, looking down on her with a hopeful little smile on his lips, which were drawing ever closer to hers.

"I like your first suggestion better," he murmured, before tracing his mouth over hers in the softest kiss imaginable.

Sakura drew in an unsteady breath as she looked at him through wide, incredulous eyes, hardly daring to believe what had just happened.

And then Sasuke's mouth returned, settling over hers more insistently in a coaxing caress, warm and firm and gentle. Her legs would have melted out from under her, but hard, strong arms were locking around her back, pulling her close, and she was content to fist her hands into his black turtleneck and let his strength support her, until slowly, reluctantly, his lips parted from hers, and she could suddenly breathe again.

"Have I properly made amends?" he whispered with a little smile and twinkling eyes.

She smiled shyly back at him. "I don't know," she replied breathlessly.

"M-maybe you should kiss me again, to make sure." Sakura added.

And he did.

On Neji's side…

The second Neji walked into his house, he ran up the stairs to his room. In his head he was already dialing Tenten's telephone number. They certainly had a lot to talk about. But when Neji sat down on his bed, the phone just right next to him, he suddenly felt deflated. It seemed so simple when he was taking to Sakura. Now that he was alone, his feelings were much more complicated. Tenten and he had been best friends since the start of high school. Three long years. Their relationship was set up a certain way, and Neji had never given serious thought to changing the dynamic.

He put the phone back on his nightstand and walked over to the bug bulletin board on his wall. The whole board was covered with pictures from their first three years of high school. Almost half of the photographs featured Tenten. A big one in the center caught his eye.

Neji's mom had taken the picture during the spring of their freshman year. Tenten and Neji had been working, along with some other people, at a car wash. Neji thought back, remembering that they had been trying to raise money for a local children's hospital.

Neji's flashback…

_At about three o'clock in the afternoon, business had slow down and they were exhausted and everyone had gotten a little cranky. Suddenly, Neji had grabbed a hose and sprayed Tenten. She had responded by dumping a bucket of soapy water on his head. After that, everyone had gotten involved. For the next few minutes or so, water and soap flew everywhere and they were all laughing hysterically._

_When Neji finally put the hose down, he saw that his mom had brought their old car to be washed. She had a camera in her hand and she was standing several yards away. Just the moment before, Tenten had come over and given Neji a high five. Neji still remembered the way their hands had slipped off each other because they were covered in soap. Neji's mom had caught that moment on film._

Even standing alone in his room, the image made him laugh out loud. Laughing and slapping him on the hand, Tenten was the epitome of herself. It was as though her whole essence leaped straight out of the picture and tugged at her heart.

Neji's gaze moved to the other photographs on the bulletin board. Some of them were of Sasuke and himself, playing basketball or doing some other guy things. But his favorites were all of Tenten and him - with his grandparents, on a horseback, building a snow man, doing silly poses.

What if he told Tenten his real feelings and she didn't feel the same way like what Sakura had said? He would be humiliated, and not to mention losing one best friend. Their easy banter and shared confidences would be gone forever.

Or what if Tenten and I did start dating and the relationship ended up just like the others? There was no guarantee that their love would last. She could meet someone she liked better, or decide that he was a terrible kisser, or realize that his jokes weren't funny after all. His heart would break, and he would lose everything that mattered most to him in the whole world.

Sighing heavily, Neji lay down on his bed. The silent phone seemed to be mocking at him and he felt like throwing it against the wall. Instead, Neji picked up the phone and dialed the first six digits Tenten's home phone number. But just as he was about to press the last number, he stopped.

For several minutes, Neji sat motionless, staring at the Michael Jordan poster on his wall. He realized that he couldn't do it. He couldn't risk his friendship with Tenten. He didn't want to lose her. The stakes were just too high.

Without bothering to undress, Neji switched off the light and sank into bed.

"Tenten will never know how I feel…" Neji vowed to himself. "Never…" and he closed his eyes trying to push all thoughts about Tenten out of his mind.

Tenten woke up on Sunday morning with a splitting headache. Downstairs, she could her cheerful voices as her parents argued over whether or not to get a new water heater. Tenten groaned and shoved her face into her pillow as the last twenty-four torturous hours came rushing back to her. Sakura and Neji. Neji and Sakura. Tenten and nobody. It must have been around five thirty in the morning that she had realized why she was feeling so horrible. She was awake most of the night and she was staring at the cracks in her ceiling. Now she said the words out for the first time, just to see if they were true.

"I am in love with Neji." She whispered softly. "And he's not in love with him."

Saying that was even harder than thinking about it. Tenten wiped the tears which rolled down her cheeks. It wasn't even ten o'clock yet and she was crying.

"Wow, what a great life I have," Tenten muttered sarcastically.

She rolled over in bed, forcing herself to repeat the truth over and over again. When she couldn't stand her own thoughts any longer, she dragged herself out of bed. It was early, but there was no point in putting off the inevitable. She had to break of all her ties with Neji, and she had to do it that day.

Tenten put on her oldest pair of jeans and dug out a faded blue sweatshirt. As she struggled to get all of her hair into a scrunchie, she decided that she would have her hair cut short. Why bother with her appearance? From then on, she was going to be hanging out with her parents every weekend anyway.

From her closet, Tenten retrieved a large cardboard box and sat it in the middle of her unmade bed. Slowly, she made her way around her room, running her hands ever the different memories of her high school years. Most of them reminded her of Neji in one way or another, and she felt fresh tears roll down her cheeks. She had to get rid of everything. Even the smallest souvenir that reminded her of their friendship would be torturous to have around. Tenten carefully placed the teddy bear Neji had won for her at a carnival in their sophomore year into the box. She had named the bear Chuckles because Neji always made her laugh. The stuffed animal was followed by a pair of silver dangly earrings which Neji gave her on her sixteenth birthday.

Tenten went to the wall by her desk and took down the framed photograph of Neji and her at a car wash. As she studied their smiling, soap covered faces one more time, her heart constricted painfully. After dropping the picture into the box, she rummaged through her dresser drawers. She had accumulated about a million of Neji's T-shirts over the last three years and she had never bothered to return them.

"He would be happy to get all these back…" Tenten whispered to herself, choking back her tears and holding up a black concert T-shirt up to her face.

After what seemed like just a few minutes, the box was full. Tenten glanced around her room, which now looked bare and impersonal. Most of her life had been placed into a cardboard box. There was nothing left.

Tenten picked up the box and walked towards the door of her room. "So long chuckles," she said. "It's been nice knowing you."

Mrs Hyuga didn't try to stop Tenten when she pushed past her and headed for the stairs. She was on a mission and no one could stop her. The stairs seemed to go on forever and the heavy weight of the box were making Tenten's arm and back muscles ache.

At the door of Neji's room, she dropped the box. The loud thump echoed through the house, announcing her presence. Then she knocked loudly on Neji's door, not caring that his parent had probably decided that she was a lunatic.

"What?" Neji yelled from inside. His voice was so familiar…so him...that Tenten almost backed down and made a go of reconciling her mixed up emotions. However, she shook her head firmly, remembering that she had warned herself against this temptation. She had known that confronting Neji would be difficult but she had no other option.

"It's me," Tenten called out sharply. She opened the door and shoved the box inside and crossing her hands in front of her chest.

"What's up?" Neji asked, looking both sleepy and surprised. His hair was messy but even in that state, Tenten thought he looked gorgeous. He could have been the poster boy for a mattress ad campaign.

"I brought all of your stuff," replied Tenten without any emotion in her voice. She had totally no idea how to begin explaining that they couldn't be friends anymore. "I…erm…I realized that I had a lot of your T-shirts." She started.

Neji glanced at his clock on his nightstand. "You felt compelled to bring me my T-shirts at ten o'clock on a Sunday morning?"

"I had to." Tenten said, as if she had explained everything. "I'm sure you're tired after your big date with Sakura, so I'll let you get back to sleep." With that, Tenten turned around on her heel, ready to flee.

"Wait!" Neji shouted, wide awake now. "Will you please tell me what's going on? You're not making any sense!"

Tenten stared at the floor, desperately trying to think of what to say. There seemed to be some loopholes in her plan to make a clean break with Neji.

"We just can't be friends anymore." She said finally.

Once the words left her lips, Tenten couldn't stop her tears from pouring down her eyes. Neji was frowning and he looked so lovable and trusting that Tenten wanted nothing more than to throw herself into his arms and beg him to fall in love with her. But then her gaze rested on his lips and she imagined him kissing Sakura. They probably spent the whole night making out in the restaurant. The image sent a stabbing pain through her heart.

"Why now?" asked Neji, his voice high and skaky.

"Things between us are just not the same anymore," Tenten said between sobs. "I don't know how else I could explain it."

Neji remained silent and stared at her with his mouth hanging open. Tenten wished that the floor would open and swallow her up, but nothing happened.

"You and Sakura will make a great couple. I wish both of you all the happiness in the world." Tenten said.

"Sakura and I? But we're not…"

"Don't say another word!" Tenten shouted. "I don't want to hear about it."

"But Tenten! This is totally insane! Worse than insane!" Neji exclaimed as he got out of bed and started walking towards her.

"I'm sorry Neji, I've failed as a friend, now I know it. But please don't say anything. Just leave me alone…forever…"

Tenten backed out of the room and slammed the door behind her. As she stumbled down the stairs, tears and heartache blurred her vision. At the bottom of the stairs, she tuned towards the front door, ignoring a very alarmed looking Mrs Hyuga. She heard Neji shouting her name, but she covered her ears and blocked out the sound of his voice.

Once outside, Tenten raced towards her mom's silver Toyota which she had parked in the driveway. She turned around and saw Neji standing at the front door. He was waving his arms and jumping up and down. Bravely, Tenten looked away and sped down the quiet street, leaving her heart behind…

Well, there you go, Sasuke and Sakura finally hooked up. I hope it didn't seemed too rush or dramatic and hoped you guys like that part. Now the only thing left is Neji and Tenten! With only one more chapter to go, they will end up together soon! Thanks so much for all your support and reviews! I love you guys!


	13. Chapter 12

**More than Friends**

_Summary: Tenten's out to find true love. Tired of hearing her best friend, Hyuga Neji, talk about how easy it is to get a girl. Tenten says she can find someone special before he ever could. Neji doesn't know the first thing about love--all he knows about are hormones. But after weeks of dating misery, both are ready to accept defeat...until Neji suggests they date each other. Do friends really make better partners? Pairings: Nejiten and Sasu/Saku _

_Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto._

_Rated: PG_

* * *

Chapter 12 

Despite the freezing cold day, Tenten rolled down her car window and let the air wash over her. She felt as if she was suffocating and the feel of the wind was a welcome relief. Tenten was driving aimlessly, praying that as the miles between Neji and her grew, she would feel like a human being again.

Tenten switched on the car radio and the low, melodious tones of the deejay filled the car. She sank back in her seat, grateful to hear another voice. With any luck, she could push the sound of Neji calling her to the back of her mind.

"And this beautiful oldie, "Let's fall in love," goes out to Natalie from Andy. He says he had a great time last night, and he's glad he finally got up the nerve to ask you to be his girl," the deejay said.

Upon hearing that, Tenten switched off the radio immediately and laughed bitterly to herself. The irony was overpowering and she had to pull her car into a parking lot and collect her thoughts. What were the chances that she would turn on the radio and hear a dedication like that? It seemed that everyone at Konoha High was finally getting lucky in love. Even the soft spoken Natalie from her Chemistry class had a guy now. Everyone but her.

Tenten rested her head on the steering wheel, taking deep, gasping breaths. She would never go to her senior prom. She would never have a date to the all night graduation party. She and Sakura wouldn't double date to the prom. Neji and her wouldn't exchange Christmas presents or go sledding. From then on, Tenten would walk through the halls of Konoha High, a mere ghost of her former self. She started fantasizing about taking the high school equivalent exam and leave Konoha High early. She would move to another town, get a job and start a whole new life. She pictured herself in New York, setting up a small café and suffering a loss. She shook her head and envisioned a new life somewhere out in the Midwest. Or she could move to Nebraska and become a farmhand. Or she could drive to California and become a hippie. Or maybe she could even assume a new identity. She could call herself Rainbow or Moonbeam.

Finally, she set up and wiped the tears off her face. She was plain old Tenten and she was miserable. Her parents would never agree to let her move out of state or do any of that. They were going to force her to suffer through her pitiful existence, enduring one lonely day after another. Tenten turned on the ignition and pulled out of the parking lot. After driving for who knows how long, she found herself in front of her favorite old theatre. The theatre was an old movie house that showed classics on weekends. When she saw that _Casablanca_ was starting at one o'clock, she parked her mom's car in the deserted lot.

Casablanca was the movie she and Neji often watch over the phone. Back then, their feelings for each other had been pure and uncomplicated. If only she could have turned back the clock and undo all the time that had passed since that innocent night.

When Tenten bought the ticket, the woman at the ticket booth looked at her strangely. "The show doesn't start for another hour. You might want to come back later." She said.

Tenten shook her head when she realized that she had no where to go. An empty movie theater was a good place to be alone.

"I'll wait," Tenten said, knowing that there were tears in her voice.

"Okay honey, go on in." the woman answered kindly.

Without any people, the theater felt eerie and surreal. But Tenten sat down anyway. Tired, she closed her eyes. Whether she had to wait for another hour or a lifetime didn't matter to her anymore. Life had just lost its meaning.

Neji stood at his doorway until Tenten's car disappeared around the corner. His mom was standing behind him, looking even more shocked than Neji felt.

"What was that all about?' she asked concerened.

"It's a long story," Neji replied, sighing.

Without another word, he climbed the stairs to his room and put the cardboard box Tenten had brought onto his bed. With a sinking heart, he began to examine the box's contents, item by item. When he found chuckles at the bottom, he held it to his chest and burrowed beneath the covers. Neji didn't know what had come over Tenten. Was it possible that Sakura had told her what he said the night before? Neji shook his head. He believed that Sakura would keep the secret.

Neji went over everything that had happened since they made the bet. Although they had been fighting more than usual, he had never thought Tenten would want to quit being his best friend. To him, the idea of them not being friends was as foreign as the idea of not breathing. They were meant to be together and now she was tearing them apart. Why?

With all his heart, he wanted to believe that she was jealous of Sakura. But it had been her idea that he ask her friend out in the first place. She had wanted him to get over Ino and move on with his life. And it had been Tenten who was pining over Itachi,acting as if her whole world had come to an end when he went back to Mia. Plus, when he had kissed her on Friday, she had been the one to pull away. As Neji remembered Tenten sobbing over Itachi, he felt sick to his stomach.

Throughout the morning, Neji had picked up and examined the various objects in the box Tenten dropped off. Every time he looked down at the stuffed teddy bear's fuzzy brown face, he felt a fresh wave of pain engulfing him. Tenten had begged him to leave her alone and there was nothing he can do about that.

Finally, Neji got angry. Who did Tenten think she was? Since when did she make all the decisions in their friendship? Neji picked up the phone. He was going to force her to talk to him, even if he had to go to her house and knock down the door of her room.

Neji hung up the phone when her answering machine picked up. Someone the idea of leaving a desperate message was too much to bear. Tenten would just get mad and she he was being a bully. Neji exhaled deeply. All he could do was…exactly nothing.

All of a sudden, the phone rang and startled Neji. But he grabbed the phone on the first ring, hoping that maybe it was Tenten and she had finally come to her senses.

"Hey Hyuga!" said Sasuke in a bright voice.

"Hey Sasuke…" Neji's heart had already sunk to his feel and he was rapidly trying to think of an excuse to get off the phone as fast as possible.

"I finally took the plunge man!" Sasuke sounded positively estatic. "I did it!"

"What do you mean?" Neji asked absently.

"Sakura! Remember? Last night? I finally told her how I felt! And she did too! It was incredible and all thanks to you! I woke up this morning feeling sooooo good!"

"I take it you guys had a good time." Neji said trying hard not to slam the phone. He wasn't in the mood right now.

"It was like we were made for each other. And you know what the best part is?" Sasuke asked.

"What?" Neji squeezed the stuffed teddy bear, trying as hard as possible to feel happy for Sasuke and Sakura but all he could think of in his head now was Tenten.

"We're going to the prom together! Isn't that great?"

"It's awesome." Neji said. He couldn't believe that Uchiha Sasuke, of all people was in love. He had always been the guy to scoff at him and his notion of searching for Miss Right. Now here he was, babbling like an idiot, sounding happier than Neji had ever heard him.

"Do you want to know what I did this morning?" Sasuke continued.

"Do tell me…"

Sasuke didn't seem to notice that Neji wasn't enjoying their conversation as much as he was. "I called up one of the radio stations and got the deejay to do a dedication. Then I called Sakura and told her to turn on the radio. We both stayed on the phone, not even talking, just to wait for my song to come on." Sasuke sighed contentedly.

"Sounds like you've fallen pretty hard," Neji commented, unsure of how to tell him that listening to him talk about declarations of love was like having knife twisted in his heart.

"Yeah, I liked her since I first saw her. And I'm glad I finally did this! Hey maybe we can double date with you and whoever for the prom!"

"Somehow, I don't think I'll be going…"

"Neji, of course you're going. If you can't find anyone, you and Tenten could go together. Both of you are single and people think that both of you are going out anyway."

Neji sighed. "I don't think that would ever happen, Sasuke."

Neji could hear Sasuke hesitating on the other side of the phone. Before he could speak, Neji said, "Listen, man, my mom's calling me. I got to go. But I am really happy for you and Sakura. Keep up the good work."

Neji hung up the phone before Sasuke could say anything. Talking to Sasuke for one more second might drive him to jump out of the window. He was only seventeen and his life had come to nothing but pain and loneliness. Lying on his bed, Neji wondered how much more he could take.

Neji had no idea how much time had passed. Still feeling as if he was a moving vacuum, he went down to the kitchen and poured himself a cup of black coffee. Then he flipped through the newspapers, hoping to get his mind off Tenten. Maybe a movie would offer some escape from his grim reality, Neji thought. His gaze fell on a huge ad for Casablanca. The film was playing at the old theater down the street at one o'clock. His thoughts flashed to the last time he had seen the film. It was with Tenten.

Neji glanced at the clock. The movie was going to start in fifteen minutes. Neji raced to the front door, put on his jacket and grabbed his keys. Then he automatically went to the phone to call Tenten to see if she wanted to come with him. The second his hand touched the phone, he jerked it back. For a brief moment, he had forgotten that the whole point of going to see a movie was to keep Tenten off his mind. Neji walked slowly away from the phone. According to Tenten, he was never to call her again. Neji had to get used to going to old movies alone. None of his friends understood the appeal of a classic black and white film.

Driving to the theater, Neji realized that watching Humphrey and Ingrid was not going to take his mind of Tenten. He might even cry when the movie got to the part where Sam played "As time goes by" for Ilsa. But he bought a ticket anyway. Nothing was going to keep him from thinking about Tenten, so he might as well be depressed in a dark theater where no one could see him.

"Are you meeting someone here?" the woman at the booth asked Neji.

"Nope…" Neji answered.

"There must be something in the air today," the woman said to herself.

Since Neji was already late, he went to the stand for popcorn. He had not eaten a thing all day and his stomach was rumbling. Inside, the theater wasn't even half full. Humpfrey was on the screen and there was music playing in the background. At that moment, Neji could relate to Humphrey, who was playing the character Rick. Rick had lost his one true love and now he was forced to live out a meaningless existence. He was always cool and untouchable because nothing else mattered to him. Neji decided that he was going to be like that from now on.

As Neji moved slowly forward, scanning for the least densely populated area, his heart started pumping in his chest. The back of a very familiar dark head was just a few rows in front of him. Neji stopped in his tracks, almost dropping his popcorn. With one hand, he rubbed his eyes and blinked rapidly. He was sure that he was hallucinating. What were the chances that Tenten was sitting right in front of his very eyes, almost as if she knew that he would come here and find her?

Neji closed his eyes for a moment and when he opened them again, Tenten was still there. As he started walking again, he couldn't suppress the feeling that unlike Rick's, his own romance was about to have a very happy ending.

Ingrid Bergman had not even appeared onscreen yet and Tenten was already swallowing back the tears. Usually her eyes would have stayed dried at least until the part where Rick found Sam playing "As Time Goes By" on the piano for Ilsa. Thiking about her strength, Tenten became determined not to act like an idiot. Ilsa would never cry her way through an entire movie – She hadn't even cried her way through an entire war.

Tenten patted her eyes with a tissue paper and sat up straighter on her seat. Her thoughts turned to Neji. Instead of thinking how their friendship had ended, she thought about all the happy times they spent together. She smiled when the image of her and Neji were tipping a canoe at Laker's pond. Then she remembered when he had shown up at her door, dressed as an Easter bunny. Tenten laughed out loud at the memory of Neji somersaulting down a mountain on a school ski trip. He had stood up after his tumble and bowed to a bunch of surprised skiers. And then, there was the image of them kissing. Tenten could almost feel his warm lips on hers, his fingers running through her hair. And when they danced at the homecoming dance, she felt as if they were in their own private world. His arms had held her close and for long minutes, she had forgotten that she was supposed to be in love with Itachi.

What a joke, Tenten thought. She had never been in love with Itachi. Now the idea of her crying over him and Mia seemed laughable. Tenten was so lost in memories of Neji that she didn't even notice someone coming up beside her. No one else was sitting in her row but she suddenly felt a person take a seat next to her. Out of no where, the hairs on her back started to stand and it seemed like a jolt of electricity was coursing through her whole body. Even before she turned her head, she knew that the person beside her was Neji.

"Did someone order popcorn?" Neji whispered into her ear.

Tenten stared at him dumbly and her head was spinning. It seemed like she had conjured him up by thinking about him with such intense concentration. Now that he was less than inches away and in the darkness of the theater, Tenten could see the warmth in his eyes. Tenten looked at his uncombed hair and his mismatched sneakers on his feet and thought that he looked even worse than she did.

Tenten couldn't speak but she reached into his tub of popcorn and took a handful. Then she turned back to the screen, afraid that she was going to burst into tears. She didn't know what she was feeling but was glad that Neji was near. With him there, the pain of losing this friendship had dulled and at least they would be together until the movie ended.

For what seemed like forever, Neji and Tenten were both rigid in their seats, not daring to look at each other. At one point when they both put their hands into the tub of popcorn, they sprang apart as soon as their skin made contact. Days and nights passed throughout the movie but to Tenten, it was a blur. She couldn't breathe. This was Neji – her best friend and her one true love.

As she listened to Humphrey Bogart say, "We'll always have Paris," tears glistened in her eyes for the first time since Neji sat next to her. Suddenly she felt his breath on her cheek and she tilted her head towards him. Every single nerve ending of her body tingled, waiting for something to happen.

"We'll always have…" Neji whispered into her ear.

Tentenn thought that he was going to finish the sentence with "Paris" but he didn't.

"Forever." Neji finished.

Tenten reached out and took his hand, clasping his fingers as tightly as she could. When she turned her face towards his, Neji used his other hand to gently trace the line of her lips. Tenten was sure that everyone in the theater could hear the beating of her heart but she didn't care.

"I love you." She whispered.

"I love you too." He whispered back.

Their lips met when the credits rolled. Tenten kissed him with all the pent up longing of the last few weeks, months and years. Neji's kisses were equally passionate and Tenten felt that for the first time ever, they truly understood each other.

As they remained locked together, their kiss deepening, she completely forgot where they were. Nothing else mattered to her except Neji. All of a sudden, the lights came on. Still they kissed. Not until everyone in the theater broke into spontaneous applause and cheering did they break apart. Neji and Tenten looked at each other and burst out laughing. A loud whistle from someone walking by made them laugh even harder. But they didn't stop looking at each other. At that moment, they were lost in the absolute perfect ness of the moment.

After everyone else had filed out of the theater, Neji took Tenten's hand and pulled her from her seat and they walked up the narrow aisle with their arms wrapped around each other.

In the bright lobby, the woman from the ticket booth stood with her hands on her hips. "Aha! I had a feeling! Like I said, there is something in the air!" she said smugly when she saw Neji and Tenten emerging together.

They walked out of the theater giggling like fools. Suddenly, Neji stopped and thew his arms around Tenten. Tenten hugged him back, squeezing him as tightly as she could.

"Hey Tenten," he said.

"What?" Tenten brushed his hair away from his face.

"Do you have a date for the prom? There's a certain bet I need to win."

Tenten pulled him even close and lightly kissed every part of his face that she could reach. Then she laughed and gave him a gentle punch in the arm. "I think you mean there's a certain bet I need to win." Tenten said, looking into Neji's eyes.

Neji grew serious and he placed his hands on either side of Tenten's head. "I think we have both won." He murmured softly.

Tenten broke into a large smile. "Yeah…wait till Sakura hears this…"

"Wait till Sasuke hears this…We could double date for the prom after all..."

Then Neji kissed her, and Tenten wasn't clear on what happened next. All she remembered was the night ended with hot chocolate and a fireplace, and you can probably guess the rest…

_**THE END!**_

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OMG! Over 100 reviews! I can't believe it! You guys are the best! How can I ever thank you! Endings are rather difficult to write and I hope this ending is OK! Maybe I'll do an epilogue featuring the prom and some fluff! So, stay tuned for that! Once again, thanks for reviewing, thanks for reading, thanks for everything! I love ya guys! I won't stop writing here, I have another Neji/Ten story to complete and I'll probably write one on Sasu/Saku as the main characters. I found out that I like writing about them. So, goodbye for now! 


	14. Epilogue

**More than Friends**

_Summary: Tenten's out to find true love. Tired of hearing her best friend, Hyuga Neji, talk about how easy it is to get a girl. Tenten says she can find someone special before he ever could. Neji doesn't know the first thing about love--all he knows about are hormones. But after weeks of dating misery, both are ready to accept defeat...until Neji suggests they date each other. Do friends really make better partners? Pairings: Nejiten and Sasu/Saku _

_Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto._

_Rated: PG_

**

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Epilogue **

**Saturday 11th, Prom night.**

_I can't believe Neji and I have been dating for more than a month and we are going to the prom together! It seemed like just yesterday when we made that stupid bet. And actually, I'm glad we did. We found each other, and we found love. So did Sakura, although she and Sasuke still bicker non-stop. Can you believe that the two most eligible bachelors in Konoha High are now unavailable? Can you imagine the looks on their fan girls faces? Hearts were breaking everywhere. Sakura and I didn't have a good time with that neither. We had to endure glares and curses everyday. But we didn't care. I've never seen all four of us any happier…_

"Tenten! Hurry, the guys are coming! I need help with my hair!" shouted Sakura from the bathroom.

"Ok, coming…" answered Tenten as she finished her last sentence in her diary.

_Nothing else matters. Sakura and I are going to have a really good time tonight at the prom with our one true love!_

"I look like a dork! Look at my hair!" wailed Sakura.

"You look fine! Come, I'll do your hair for you." Giggled Tenten.

At Neji's house…

Sasuke straightened up his tie. He looked over his black suit and navy vest in the mirror for the millionth time that evening.

"Are you sure I look fine?" He asked his best friend in confidence.

"I'm sure you don't look like a dork."Neji shook his head.

"No c'mon, stop being so vain. We need to pick up the ladies." Said Neji.

When the guys reached Tenten's house, they were swept off their feet by their girlfriends. It was true; Tenten was looking so beautiful in her green satin gown. Her hair wasn't in her usual bun. She had made it straight and sleek, making her look elegant and sophisticated. Sakura was in a colorful, flowy dress and her hair was curled which made her look like a princess. Tenten hadn't notice Neji staring at her as she, herself and Sakura were gaping at the guys. Neji was reveling in her beauty and how magnificently her dress fit her. It was a very "Tenten" dress and he decided to himself that he couldn't see her in anything but something like that. Both guys were looking so handsome in their tuxedo.

"Hey four eyes!" Every time Sasuke saw Sakura he would always start off the insults in this way, just to annoy her. She hated it. He loved it. As usual...

"Why can't you get it into your head that my name is SAKURA, you jerk!" She shouted.

"Excuse me getting your name wrong, SAKURA you JERK," he mocked.

With twinkling onyx eyes he gave a low bow that was the customary gesture of respect, which in this case, meant the opposite. Sakura whacked him and they started arm wrestling.

"Hey enough you two. We're going to be late!" laughed Tenten. Neji just shook his head and pulled Tenten along with him.

The group had arrived fashionably late for the Prom in Neji's BMW. Tenten was in awe of the entire school gym and how it seemed to shine. Neji asked her to dance and the two floated around the room while Sakura and Sasuke went their own way.

"Hey your dress looked like its going to split!" chuckled Neji.

Tenten laughed and punched him in the arm. "Stop that again!"

As Neji and Tenten danced through the night, they couldn't have imagined this being like this even a couple of weeks ago. His best friend who he thought he had known all of his life was now the love of his life. He shook his head, who would of thought? He still wasn't used to her new look, even when she wore her old sports clothes. She stopped hiding her lovely eyes behind the hideous spectacles and he couldn't help but stare at times. And then her hair, the beautiful brown tresses were no longer hidden in her bun. Rather, she let it fall in a sport like ponytail. She hadn't changed completely, thank god. She didn't wear dresses and wore skirts rarely. But when she did, oh what a sight. She was the perfect combination and he now understood her. He hoped. Tenten smiled up at him and caught him staring at her.

"What?" she said, arching a nicely plucked eyebrow. "Is there something on my face?"

"No," He said, and kissed her lightly upon her nose.

"Would you like to go outside for a walk?" Neji asked. "I know all the best places!" He winked at her.

Tenten blushed. _'I love when he does that.'_ She sighed to herself.

"Certainly." They left the room with the elaborate hanging angels to walk out into the balcony... only to see Sasuke and Sakura.

"Oops! I gather we weren't supposed to walk in on that!" Neji said.

The two broke apart and Sakura wiped her lips, her face dark red. She pulled Sasuke inside, embarrassed. Tenten laughed.

"It's nice to see them happy... and together." She smiled.

Neji led her down the stone steps and into a garden of elaborate roses and wines, ancient stone benches and man made waterfalls. She gasped as she took the entire sight in. It was amazing what the committee did for the senior prom. She never knew this part of the school looked so breathtaking before

"It's beautiful..."

"It was always my favorite place in this whole school. Neji sat on one of the stone benches and looked into the fountain. And I'm glad I can share it with you today Tenten. You look so beautiful."

"Thanks. You don't look too bad yourself." Said Tenten as she blushed.

"Are you over the reason why you hate dance and proms?" Neji asked, his eyes holding so many emotions over her.

"I'm starting to think I don't hate them so much anymore..." Tenten smiled.

"Why's that?" Neji asked.

"I've never told you why I actually hated dances and proms did I?"

"I don't think so..."

"Before I met you, when I was 14, this guy asked me to a dance. We were having a good time until that guy started to insult me for being a dork. It turns out that he and his friends were just making a bet to see if he could manage to make a "dork" fall for him. I was so embarrassed that night. Thank god after that I came to Konoha High. And I met you. And I totally forget about that incident."

"That guy is a loser!" Neji frowned.

"Because as much as I hated it for things that have happened in the past... I truly believe that being with you is the best prom night I have ever had." She held his hand.

His dark, azure eyes looked up at her. They stared at her full of love and trust.

"Tenten..." He smiled, "this is the best prom that I have ever had also."

Neji leaned over and kissed Tenten's lips softly. The two basked in the kiss. Tenten squeezed his hand affectionately. They both stared up at the full moon.

"Neji." Tenten whispered. "Is it okay if I love?"

"Only if it's okay if I love you too." He smiled.

Back to Sasuke & Sakura…

_"Where is he?"_ Sakura thought as she scanned the room for her boyfriend. As she was turning into a small lane in order to take a shortcut she bumped into something or she soon realized a seemingly rock solid someone and fell on a pair of strong arms.

"Some people never change I guess," The man laughed, "Isn't that right SAKURA you JERK!"

"Of all people I had to fall on, it would be you," Sakura muttered angrily.

"I guess you can't help but being attracted to me silly school girl."

"I HATE you," she shouted.

"So you keep on saying." Sasuke said with a smirk.

Sakura folded her arms and said with a pout, "I do!'

"You know the saying four eyes," Sasuke stated. "Hate is a form of passion that you are trying to show me in order to conceal the fact that you actually love me."

She blinked with blushes beginning to cover her cheeks. Then she recovered.

"Oh really Mr. I know everything," Sakura snapped. "You are very wrong about that."

"Seriously, I cannot think of anyone crazy enough who would want to date a klutz like you." He continued.

"Why do you always have to annoy me! I hate you! I HATE YOU!" she said, a little louder than she expected and she stormed off to the lake outside the school.

"I really hate him! That annoying jerk!" muttered Sakura angrily to herself. As she sat down by the lake, she saw a girl walking towards her.

"Hey Sakura…"

"Hey Natalie."

"Erm..Someone asked me to pass this to you." Natalie said and she handed an envelope to Sakura.

"Thanks Nat."

"No problem, catch you later!"

"_What's this,"_ Sakura thought as she opened the letter.

_'Dear Four eyes,_

_It is strange but I really feel I know you so well. It's probably due to the fact that we have been bickering all the time. I really feel comfortable with you and I do hope you're feeling the same way with me._

_You are the only one who knows about my family background and I hope I haven't bothered you too much with that, but I just needed to talk to you about my parents. I just cannot let anyone see my distress as I am scared of rejection._

_Probably I am a coward who can only face reality through letters ... but if so, I like that. I have gotten to know you, and that Sakura, I can tell you, is worth so much to me. I know this is a short letter, I'm not very good with words as you know and you probably don't think much of this. But I just want you to know that I love you always._

_Love, your Jerk._

Sakura smiled to herself and she felt strong arms hugging her from behind.

With the moons reflection on the lake... Sakura looked like an angel to him.

As she noticed him staring at her she casually told him, "Do you realize another day has just gone?"

"Huh?" he asked feeling a little taken aback by that comment.

"Yes," She said, "It's past midnight."

The two of them were very close and Sasuke held her by the waist. Sakura could feel Sasuke's breath as well as he could hers. He cupped her face with his hands and approached his lips to her tempting ones.

They kissed.

"Happy Birthday Sakura," Sasuke whispered into her ear.

Sakura pulled away surprised while he chuckled.

"You knew all along, didn't you, you JERK ?" she asked accusingly and then hit him playfully.

"I will always be there for you Sakura, whether it is to annoy you or to love you," Sasuke said to her before taking her in his embrace and stating, "Always."

Sakura just smiled blissfully.

Back in the gym…

Everyone was back for one last final dance before the senior prom ends. Tenten had her head on Neji's shoulders and she was smiling happily. The look on Neji was like he was the happiest man on earth. Sakura and Sasuke were always holding each other closely and dancing slowly. As Sakura/Sasuke neared Tenten/Neji, Sakura whispered to Tenten.

"It looks like love was right under our noses afterall, Tenten."

Tenten smiled and said, "I couldn't agree more Sakura…" And the two happy couples continued dancing in each others arms with blissful looks on their faces...

THE END!

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THANKS FOR READING AND REVIEWING! I actually managed to write this up quickly tonight! Just some babbling..It's not that romantic or eventful but I hope you guys like it! THIS is finally the end of this story! I feel quite sad actually, I really enjoyed writing this! Thanks to everyone for your support! I WILL continue writing fanfics! So GOODBYE for now! 


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